Hurtigruten unveils plans for battery and biogas fuelled vessels

.....ευτυχώς που έστω και την τελαυταία στιγμή υπάρχει εγρήγορση για την αποφυγή της περαιτέρω αύξησης της θερμότητας, και όχι μόνο....

Απαραίτητες ενέργειες για να έχει συνέχεια η ανθρωπότητα, αλλά και ουσία στις ευχές μας.

ΧΡΟΝΙΑ ΠΟΛΛΑ ΣΕ ΟΛΟΥΣ,
ΑΝΑΠΤΕΡΩΣΗ ΤΗΣ ΕΛΠΙΔΑΣ ΣΤΟΥΣ ΑΝΘΡΩΠΟΥΣ,  ΜΕ ΤΗΝ ΓΕΝΝΗΣΗ ΤΟΥ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ.

December 20, 2018     vpoglobal.com

 

Roald Amundsen. Image courtesy of Hurtigruten

Daniel Skjeldam, CEO of Norwegian expedition cruise company Hurtigruten firmly believes that alternative fuels and clean propulsion technologies are the future of shipping. The company wants to ban heavy fuel oil (HFO) and is proving that sustainable low-emission shipping is possible by constructing the first hybrid expedition cruise vessels that will reduce fuel consumption and emissions by 20 per cent.
VPO Global visited the Kleven shipyard in Ulsteinvik, Norway where Hurtigruten’s latest vessels are being built to find out how the Norwegian company is pushing the boundaries of alternative fuels and technologies.
Named after the Norwegian explorer who led the first expedition to the South Pole on December 14, 1911, the Roald Amundsen is the first of two hybrid vessels developed by Hurtigruten. The vessel features Rolls-Royce engines and will run on low-emission diesel, switching to battery power when sailing in the Arctic or Antarctic for zero-emission and noise-free sailing. The hybrid propulsion is combined with advanced hull construction and on-board electricity to reduce fuel consumption and emissions by 20 per cent. Described by Hurtigruten’s CEO Daniel Skjeldam as ships that will change the industry and push boundaries, the vessels represent the single largest investment for Hurtigruten in history. Mr Skjeldam told VPO Global he expects these ships to “change the global cruise industry down a much more sustainable path.”

Daniel Skjeldam, CEO, Hurtigruten. Image courtesy of Hurtigruten

Presently, Roald Amundsen has two 627 KW Corvus Energy battery packs installed. There is space in the battery room for batteries five times this, but Hurtigruten’s belief that the technology will advance significantly over the next few years means the company is in no rush to fill the space now. Mr Skjeldam told VPO Global that upgrades and investment will “depend on the technology development of batteries.” He explained to us: “We think that the technology will be more effective, so that in the future if you use this area for batteries, it will be at least three times more effective than it is today. We expect demand to increase significantly going forward.”
The expedition cruise company also has plans to use 100 per cent natural biogas in the future as it is the “most environmentally friendly fuel you can have with 60 per cent less CO2 emissions than LNG,” Mr Skjeldam explained to VPO. He added: “This is basically waste from the fish farming industries, or forestry industries that would otherwise go to waste.”
Due to an insufficient supply chain, Hurtigruten is collaborating with several partners on developing liquefied biogas (LBG). Mr Skjeldam told us: “We are hoping to develop a sufficient demand for suppliers to start producing more and by this we are creating the space for biogas in the future. We believe it is the finest fuel form you can have today, but there is too little of it and we need to develop this.”
While Mr Skjeldam was not able to yet confirm where the company will get their biogas from, he did assure us that it is completely separate from the biofuel chain and therefore free from palm oil. Palm oil is a cheap resource often found in biofuels. However, it is not a sustainable resource as extracting and processing it directly contributes to rainforest depletion and environmental degradation, most substantially in parts of Indonesia and Malaysia.

Mr Kai Albrigtsen in the battery room of the Roald Amundsen. The 54-year old will be the first captain of the hybrid expedition vessel

In addition to the two vessels in construction, Hurtigruten plans to convert six ships to biogas, LNG, and battery power, which Mr Skjeldam hopes will give the company experience in operating with alternative fuels. “We will then consider investing into other ships, but first we need a supply network and we are able to build this in Norway. Where Roald Amundsen and Fridtjof Nansen will operate, the supply network is not there yet and we don’t see it coming for a while so to use diesel and batteries in these ships are by far the best solutions as there are no other technologies or fuel supplies available at the moment.”
Roald Amundsen will be launched in the first quarter of 2019. The 500 passenger and first hybrid cruise ship will be sailed by 54-year old Mr Kai Albrigtsen.
The second hybrid vessel, Fridtjof Nansen is expected to launch in the late third quarter of 2019.