Rolls-Royce Unveils New Battery System for ships

BABATUNDE SCOTT |

A lithium-based energy storage system for ships has been launched by technology company Rolls-Royce.

SAVe Energy is said to be a cost-competitive, highly efficient and liquid cooled battery system with a modular design that enables the product to scale according to energy and power requirements.

In addition, the system complies with international regulations for low and zero emission propulsion systems.

The development work has been partly funded by the Norwegian Research Council of Norway’s ENERGIX programme. Three ship owning companies — Color Line, Norled and the Norwegian Coastal Administration (NCA) Shipping Company — have been partners in the development, ensuring that the energy storage system covers a wide variety of marine applications, including ferries, cruise vessels and multipurpose vessels.

As explained, energy storage is a major green investment for a shipowner. Returns are maximized when the system is correctly dimensioned for the specific ship and includes intelligent power control. Rolls-Royce has been delivering energy storage systems since 2010, however, the actual energy storage units were previously supplied by an external party.

“The electrification of ships is building momentum. From 2010 we have delivered battery systems representing about 15 MWh in total. However, now the potential deployment of our patent pending SAVe Energy in 2019 alone is 10-18 MWh,” Andreas Seth, Rolls-Royce, EVP Electrical, Automation and Control – Commercial Marine, said.

SAVe Energy can be applied to several areas including peak shaving, spinning reserve and battery-powered vessels. Combined with a LNG or diesel-powered engine in a hybrid solution, it will increase efficiency and reduce emissions and can be coupled with most types of propulsion units. In a hybrid set up, SAVe Energy handles the peak load, while the main power generators will relate to the average load and not reduce the propulsion units thrusting capabilities, according to Rolls-Royce.

“Battery systems have become a key component of our power and propulsions systems, and SAVe Energy is being introduced on many of the projects we are currently working on. This includes the upgrade programme for Hurtigruten’s cruise ferries, the advanced fishing vessel recently ordered by Prestfjord and the ongoing retrofits of offshore support vessels. As a system provider we can find the best solution considering both installation and operational cost,” Seth further said.

SAVe Energy is an energy storage unit (ESU) system which was recently class approved by DNV GL. This means that the systems are now accepted for installation on all vessels classed by DNV GL.