EU ferry charging project

The HYPOBATT (hyper powered vessel battery charging system) project is part of the EU-wide Horizon initiative aimed at advancing electrification in the marine industry.

“Europe has aggressive sustainability targets to reduce CO2 emissions by at least 40% until 2030,” said Olivier Kompaore, vice president for Industry Product Line at Wabtec.

“This project will help to standardise a modular, fast, and easy multi-megawatt charging system, paving the way for clean, zero-emission and competitive solutions for maritime transportation. Wabtec’s state-of-the-art charging solutions, like FerryCHARGER, will serve as the blueprint for the project.”

Wabtec is working in a consortium with 18 partners who are responsible for a 42-month project to identify charging solutions that reduce contact time, wait time and maintenance cost.

The project also will develop a fully automatic electric ship connection system with the capacity to fully charge a vessel’s battery while at the dock.

The consortium aims to reduce connection time to less than 30 seconds, charging time by 10%, and space dock side for the system by 20% as well as improving charger availability by 95% and battery life by 10%.

The technology will be demonstrated at the ports of Norddeich and Norderney in Germany using a vessel owned by the Reederei Norden-Frisia shipping company.