Why is energy storage onboard a sustainable technology and why should a shipowner use valuable space installing an Energy Storage System (ESS)?

The answer to the question is simple: An ESS will cut fuel costs, emissions and the need for maintenance.

Cutting fuel directly leads to reduced emissions, and the battery helps optimize energy consumption for both hybrid and fully electric systems.   

All-electric vessels

A fully electric vessel saves 100% fuel. In addition you save most of the maintenance costs as a battery does not have moving parts.

Hybrid vessels

A hybrid vessel with ESS can optimize the energy consumption by running the engines at optimal load, reducing the amount and the size of the engines, and storing excess energy for later use.

Depending on the type of vessel and each vessels’ operational profile, an ESS is used for the following operations:

Peak shaving:
“Shave” the load peaks and operate engines at more optimum load

Load leveling:
Give the engines a smoother operation by reducing load variations

Spinning reserve:
Take a genset offline and use ESS for reserve power

Zero-emission and silent sailing:
Take all engines offline , burn no fuel, emit no exhaust, make no noise

Rapid load response:
Supply immediate power to large power consumers – especially in gas-hybrid systems where slow engine response can limit the available instant power.