Harvey Gulf Orders More Battery Power Systems for PSVs

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Wednesday October 21, 2020

Louisiana-based Harvey Gulf has placed an order with Wärtsilä to retrofit four of its LNG dual-fuelled PSVs with battery energy systems.

The conversion for Harvey Power, Harvey Liberty, Harvey Freedom, and Harvey America, will commence in 2021 and will be completed in early 2022.

It follows a similar upgrade order placed with Wärtsilä in October.

"When stationary in the field or in port, the boats will be able to operate on battery power only, thereby greatly reducing both fuel consumption and exhaust emissions," Wärtsilä explained, adding that the work would effectively make the PSVs capable of full tri-fuel operation.

The order represents the latest in a growing number of retrofits for marine battery-power solutions as the industry looks to slash its emissions footprint and reduce fuel costs.

Battery power is particularly attractive as it reduces to zero the emissions directly attributable to the ship when operating 100% on electric, and makes the lifecycle emissions footprint a function of how the electricity used to charge the battery was generated.