Project description
Enhancing maritime transport sustainability and electrification
The maritime transport industry is crucial to global trade and logistics because it moves goods and people. Although it is a key target for sustainability efforts, the inherent difficulty of transforming current ship designs and value chains has limited progress towards sustainability. The EU-funded ELECTRIC BLUE project aims to demonstrate advanced battery energy storage systems and ship design concepts suitable for retrofitting existing vessels. It will combine the expertise of research, industrial, and regulatory experts across the vessel electrification value chain, providing training and guidelines throughout its operation and introducing key innovations that, together, will enhance EU maritime leadership and sustainability.
Objective
ELECTRIC BLUE focuses on the demonstration of advanced battery energy storage systems and ship design concepts for existing vessels through retrofitting. Our ambition is to pave the way towards full electrification in maritime transport.
A full-scale demonstration on the retrofitted RoPax ferry, Finnsirius or Finncanopus, already equipped with a 5 MWh battery system, aims for a 40% increase in electric-only operating range, achieving at least 120 nautical miles with batteries as the primary power source for propulsion. This is achieved through next-generation onboard battery energy storage systems, and high-capacity shore-side charging systems for rapid battery replenishment. Further innovations include advanced onboard energy efficiency, AI-driven Energy Management System, and digital tools for ship modelling to validate the extended range.
ELECTRIC BLUE unites industrial, research, and regulatory experts across the vessel electrification value chain. Key participants span Shipping companies (Finnlines, CSM), ship design (RMC), battery systems (Corvus), power solutions (Polarvolt, Wärtsilä), and port authorities (Naantali, Stockholm) as well as classification society (Lloyd’s Register EMEA). Research (VTT, AAU, TalTech, UPRC) contributes digital modelling, techno-economic analysis, and business models, supporting replication studies for diverse vessel types. This ensures outputs are technically robust, economically viable, and widely scalable across Europe.
The project's impact enhances EU maritime leadership, accelerating the transition to a climate-neutral society. It will deliver guidelines for retrofitting advanced battery systems and fire safety solutions, addressing regulatory gaps for safe, compliant adoption. Training promotes new green job opportunities for maritime personnel. Through demonstration, replication, and business modelling, ELECTRIC BLUE targets widespread deployment, ensuring a rapid, socially accepted shift to battery-electric shipping in Europe.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering ecosystem-based management climatic change mitigation
- social sciences economics and business business and management business models
- social sciences social geography transport
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering vehicle engineering naval engineering sea vessels
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.5 - Climate, Energy and Mobility
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL5-2025-04
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
02150 Espoo
Finland
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.