The use of batteries as a main source of propulsion power for inland and coastal ships has passed a significant milestone, after Foreship delivered its Ship Applicability Type Technical Report to partners of the EU-funded research and innovation Current Direct* project.
Foreship is developing specifications and requirements for the waterborne system and optimised ship design for the project whose 13 partners aim initially to demonstrate and commercialise a swappable ‘e-house’ containing one or more batteries to power inland vessels.
The ‘Horizon 2020’ Current Direct project has estimated that the use of swappable batteries and Energy-as-Service platform could cut as much as 482,000 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalents from water transport emissions in Europe each year.
Critically, Foreship is developing a framework for standardized interfaces to support the mechanical and electrical infrastructure that will be needed to enable such ambitions. In March 2022, this part of the Current Direct project was cited as providing the basis for guidelines covering interfaces for both swappable and fixed battery containers under development by the influential Maritime Battery Forum.
The Current Direct swappable battery solution envisages one or more batteries installed in an e-house, offering around 3MWh of energy to support long distance zero-emission voyages. ts.
* The Current Direct project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 963603. www.currentdirect.eu
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