Solar electric ferry

The 14.65-metre long Antonia vom Kamp has gone into operation several times a day between the village of Kamp on the mainland and the  island of Usedom, part of the popular 350-kilometre Berlin – Usedom cycle route.

 “We can cover our energy needs almost entirely with the photovoltaic system,” said Kay Peters, managing director of Oderhaff Reederei Peters GmbH, the company that operates the new ferry.

“Electric motors only consume energy when the ship is moving, here we have no gearbox, no losses, nothing. The ongoing costs in terms of maintenance, oil changes, and spare parts are much lower.”

Green alternative

The solar ferry travels the same route as the previous, diesel-powered ferry, which lost its operating license a couple of years ago. That created a huge tourism problem for the village of Kamp, where the ferry departs the mainland, so, they decided to organise a new ferry service.

“It would have been nonsense [to build] something with diesel again,” he recalls. Most visitors arrive by bicycle and muscle-power so a quiet, clean and emission-free electric ferry fit the bill,” said Siegfried Henck, who presides over the local harbour association.

Antonia vom Kamp operates at 8 km/h with a max speed of 15 km/h and is propelled by a single, 60 kW Deep Blue electric azimuth thruster. The system is completed by two Deep Blue batteries with a total capacity of 80 kWh and a 4.3 kWp solar installation.

“When you take a ferry out of operation for maintenance, you’re losing money every minute. Solar-electric water taxis and ferries are more than just clean and green,” said Tommi Salonen, Torqeedo GmbH’s senior vice president sales.

The boatbuilders, Ostseestaal and Ampereship, estimate that the new solar-electric propulsion system will save twenty tonnes of CO2 every year.

In recent years, the two companies have become one of Europe’s market leaders in the construction of electric-solar ships for professional inland navigation.