World News
GE Pushes Electric Propulsion for Navies
With fuel consumption on the minds of naval ship designers, General Electric says there is a good market for electric and hybrid propulsion systems.
"I've seen the future of naval propulsion, and it's electrifying," said Captain Mark Dannatt of GE Power Conversion, speaking at the Euronaval exhibition and conference in Paris.
"It's increasingly common for naval ship designers to be directed to give increased weighting to through-life costs of naval ships including fuel consumption and routine maintenance costs based on their selected power and propulsion options."
"These studies often conclude that some form of electrical propulsion is worthy of further investigation based not only on fuel and maintenance costs but also on the consequential impact on improvements in ship availability and extended operational autonomy."
GE provides systems that include prime movers, power generation, electrical distribution and fixed or variable speed drives, including motors for propulsion, thrusters and specialist applications.
The systems can work for both warships and supply vessels as well as for civilian ships, GE says.
GE acquired Power Conversion, formerly Converteam, last year, giving it access to new electric energy technology.
Navies looking into alternative energy include the Irish Navy, which has been investigating kite sails, and the U.S. Navy, which has pledged to get half its energy from non-petroleum sources by 2020.
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