The passenger ship Havila Castor achieved zero-emission sailing in and out of the Geiranger fjord in Norway on June 2, aided by a Corvus Energy 6.1MWh Orca battery system. The system is believed to be the largest battery pack installed on board a commercial vessel.
The energy storage systems – when used in combination with other sustainable technologies on board – have the capacity to reduce CO2 emissions by approximately 30% and NOx emissions by 90%. As biogas is gradually blended, CO2 emissions will be reduced further to 50% in 2023 and 80% in 2024. Additionally, to ensure each ship is futureproofed, each has been prepared for the installation of hydrogen and fuel cells by HAV Hydrogen. The Havila Castor is one of four identical ships being built for Havila Kystruten to serve the coastal route between Bergen and Kirkenes in the north of Norway.
The trip from the city of Ålesund and back took the Havila Castor nine hours, and for three of those the vessel carried out operations on battery only. Following the three-hour stint the battery pack had a remaining capacity of 40%, enabling longer zero-emission travel if required.
A multitude of partners were involved with the project, including HAV Design who designed the vessel and Norwegian Greentech who provided a low-energy, low-footprint ballast water cleaning system. Norwegian Electric Systems integrated the system and supplied the hybrid gas-electric propulsion system inclusive of battery packs and generators with complete switchboards. The company also integrated Raven INS, a fully integrated bridge system with smart features such as data hoarding and analysis to continuously develop better and more efficient operations.
“This is a milestone for Corvus Energy and a big step for the decarbonization of shipping,” said Geir Bjørkeli, CEO, Corvus Energy “For the first time in history, a large passenger ship has sailed this route silent and emission-free. This proves that technology is ready even for large ships to operate in zero-emission mode for longer periods of time.
“The world’s most beautiful coastline now has the world’s most environmentally friendly coastal ship,” commented Bent Martini, CEO, Havila Kystruten. “By continuous focus on the environment and the best passenger experience, we have managed to set a new standard for the cruise and passenger industry. The first trip on battery alone went exceptionally well and we see that we can achieve even more by testing and finetuning all the systems on board. Feedback from our customers has been phenomenal: sailing in complete silence and hearing the waterfalls and birds singing while entering the fjord with steep mountains on every side was for all an amazing experience.”
