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Siemens has supplied the propulsion system for the world’s first electric fishing boat. The
solution saves fuel, reduces maintenance costs, and is broadly applicable.
A new fishing cutter called the Karoline has been developed by boat builder Selfa Arctic AS. The boat’s main propulsion system is an electric motor that gets its energy from a set of batteries. When the boat is in port at night, its batteries are recharged with electricity from the local grid. As a precautionary measure, the boat is also equipped with an efficient diesel engine and an electric generator. This combined propulsion system was jointly developed by Siemens and Selfa. Siemens supplied the propulsion technology, including the electric motor, the batteries, the generator, and the control unit for the entire system.
Karoline’s home port is Tromsø in Norway, where the boat has been going out to sea since early October. Fishermen find it less strenuous to work on the Karoline than on conventional boasts, because the electric motor doesn’t produce exhaust gases, vibrations, and the noise associated with diesel engines.
Electric boats are especially advantageous in Norway, because the country generates its electricity exclusively from renewable sources, thus emitting no greenhouse gases. Norway’s fishing fleet could cut its fuel consumption by 80 percent if all of its boats were fitted with electric motors. The amount of fuel involved is considerable, given that the fishing fleet currently consumes about 400 million liters of diesel per year. This would go a long way toward achieving the Norwegian government’s goal of cutting the country’s CO2 emissions by 40 percent.
Big savings.
Fishing cutters can be in operation for up to 12 hours per day. But most work days last only about eight hours and the Karoline’s batteries are powerful enough to cover this. However, if the batteries’ charge level drops below a certain value, the cutter’s diesel engine and generator, each of which has 60 kilowatt (kW) of output, automatically kick in to produce power for the electric propulsion system.
During the the Karoline first 30 days of service its operators caught some 58,000 kg of fish, but it consumed only 0.04 liters of diesel per kilogram of fish, representing an 80-percent reduction in fuel consumption compared to conventional diesel-powered fishing cutters.
The new technology doesn’t just save fuel, it also reduces operating costs, because electric motors need much less maintenance than diesel engines. The batteries can be used for around 30,000 charging cycles.
Battery operation offers another benefit during cold winters when the boats have to be heated in port. This heating is generally provided by the onboard diesel engines, meaning that about 70 percent of the heat is lost through the vessel’s hull. The Karoline’s heating system, in contrast, is supplied with energy from the batteries or directly from the grid. It operates much more efficiently than the conventional approach and does not consume diesel.
Profitable future .
In addition to the Karoline, Siemens has also been involved in the development of the world’s first all-electric car ferry, the Ampere. The vessel has been running the six-kilometer ferry route across Norway’s Sognefjord since the spring of 2015. In the context of a study of the profitability of electric ferries in Norway Siemens and the Norwegian environmental organization Bellona recently analyzed the Ampere’s operations. The study demonstrated that ferries equipped with battery-electric drives or diesel-electric hybrid systems could be profitably used on 70 percent of all of the country’s ferry routes.
The results of the study demonstrated that electric solutions were profitable on routes that could be completed in less than 35 minutes. Longer routes are more cost-efficiently operated by ferries with hybrid propulsion systems. Of Norway’s 180 ferries and 111 ferry routes, 84 vessels on 61 routes could be converted to battery-electric operation while another 43 ferries on 32 routes could be switched to hybrid drive systems. The study found that this would reduce Norway’s annual CO2 emissions by 300,000 metric tons or nine percent, and its nitrogen oxide emissions by 8,000 metric tons. In addition, diesel consumption would decline by 100,000 metric tons per year. The total cost savings would amount to €77 million per year.
Contact:
Mr. Dr Norbert Aschenbrenner
Editorial Office
Siemens AG
norbert.aschenbrenner@siemens.com
Original Internet Article:
http://www.siemens.com/innovation/en/home/pictures-of-the-future/mobility-and-mo...
A new fishing cutter has been developed by boat builder Selfa Arctic AS. The boat’s main propulsion ...
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For safety purposes and long-distance trips the vessel has a battery bank and electric generator dri ...
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Journalists
Electrical engineering, Environment / ecology, Traffic / transport
transregional, national
Transfer of Science or Research
English
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