Context of the project:
The new co-programmed European Partnership Zero Emission Waterborne Transport (ZEWT) aims to provide and demonstrate zero-emission solutions for all main ship types and services before 2030, which will enable zero-emission waterborne transport before 2050.
Electrification and electrical energy storage systems will be paramount, not only as a stand-alone system in full electric ships, but also as an enabler for all other technologies facilitating hybrid electric ships. Norway is today a pathfinder in decarbonising maritime applications: Equinor has reached 50% GHG emission reductions compared to 2008 from its vessels for offshore oil and gas installations by combining policy, technological and managerial actions; Corvus has provided more than 500 marine battery systems for different ships from 2018 to 2021. However, further GHG emission reductions are more complex and costly and there are still challenges to lead shipowners to invest as fast as intended in large battery systems to extend zero emission transit for both full-electric and ICE hybrid ships (retrofitted or new-designs), and this across sectors and regions in Europe.
To reach these ambitions five main challenges have been identified by the NEMOSHIP consortium:
1. Ensure the safety and knowledge of the crew during installation and exploitation of large batteries
2. Standardise installation and integration solutions within a wide range of ships and electrical grids (AC and DC)
3. Reach a competitive Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) compared to conventional fossil-based solutions
4. Improve the operational benefits of batteries while ensuring longer zero emission sailing
5. Upskill shipowners and operators in best decision making and operation
NEMOSHIP ambition is based on four major findings that, according to the consortium, are today an obstacle to address those five challenges for exploiting electrical energy storage systems and better optimising large battery electric power within fully battery electric and hybrid ships:
Objective 1: Flexible electrification solutions to exploit heterogeneous storage units for a wide range of needs
Objective 2: Standardisation of the battery systems integration process and interfaces within the vessels
Objective 3: Advanced tools for ship operators and owners to reach an optimal and safe exploitation
Objective 4: Extending zero emission ability for both hybrid and full-electric ships
To reach these goals, NEMOSHIP will:
- Develop a modular and standardised battery energy storage solution enabling to exploit heterogeneous storage units and a cloud-based digital platform enabling a data-driven optimal and safe exploitation;
- Demonstrate these innovations at TRL 7 maturity for hybrid ships and their adaptability for full-electric ships thanks to: (i) a retrofitted offshore vessel (diesel/electric propulsion once retrofitted), (ii) a newly designed hybrid cruise vessel (LNG/electric propulsion) and (iii) a semi-virtual demonstration for two additional full-electric vessels such as ferries and short-sea shipping.
All results will be built upon a treasure chest of 18 years of energy storage system operation data. Thanks a very ambitious exploitation plan, accompanied by very large dissemination actions, the NEMOSHIP consortium estimates that these innovations will reach the following impacts by 2030: electrification of about 7% of the EU fleet; generate a potential revenue of €300M thanks to the sales of the NEMOSHIP products and services; reduce EU maritime GHG emissions by 30% compared to business as usual scenario; and create at least 260 direct jobs (over 1000 indirect).
