EMEA News
New Hybrid Ferry Set to Be First to Feature Wärtsilä Hybrid Battery Technology
Wärtsilä Corporation (Wärtsilä) Friday announced that a new hybrid ferry being built for UK operator Wightlink at Turkey's Cemre Shipyard, which will be able to run on both conventional fuel and battery power, will be the first ferry to feature Wärtsilä's hybrid battery technology.
The ferry is also expected to be the "most environmentally sustainable vessel ever" to ply the waters between the Isle of Wight and the English mainland - the route on which the ferry will be employed.
Wärtsilä says the solutions it is set to provide the ferry will improve vessel efficiency, reduce exhaust emissions, and lower vessel noise level.
"This new Wightlink ferry is designed to be energy efficient and environmentally sustainable using the latest Wärtsilä technologies. In particular, the use of Wärtsilä's hybrid system represents a state-of-the-art solution for propulsion efficiency, which in turn has a beneficial effect on exhaust emissions," said Stephan Kuhn, Vice President, Electrical and Automation at Wärtsilä.
The vessel, which will have capacity for 178 cars and more than 1000 passengers, will feature four 6-cylinder Wärtsilä 20 generating sets, as well as Wärtsilä electrical and automation systems.
Wärtsilä says the hybrid management system, which operates the engines at optimal load and absorbes many of the load fluctuations using batteries, will enable the vessel to deliver significant energy savings compared to conventional systems.
"Wightlink carries more than four and a half million passengers each year and is the leading cross-Solent ferry company connecting the south coast of England with the Isle of Wight," said Elwyn Dop, Wightlink's Operations Director.
"Our new vessel will be Wightlink's flagship, and we thank Wärtsilä for their close cooperation in this project. We are confident that the Wärtsilä equipment and systems are exactly the right choice for this modern ferry."
Wärtsilä says delivery of its equipment is slated to start in the spring of 2017, with the ferry expected to enter service in 2018.
In April, Wärtsilä announced that it would provide propulsion packages for the conversion of two RoPax vessels of Canadian ferry operator British Columbia Ferry Services Inc. (BC Ferries) to dual-fuel conventional and liquefied natural gas (LNG) bunker propulsion.
