electric/hybrid

Norway

TrAM project aims to build the world’s first zero-emission fast ferry

Partners in the TrAM (Transport – Advanced and Modular) project have announced that construction has commenced on the world’s first fully electric passenger fast ferry at the Fjellstrand shipyard on the west coast of Norway.
TrAM project aims to build the world’s first zero-emission fast ferry
Courtesy of TrAM project.

Equipped to carry around 150 passengers, the catamaran vessel will be 31 metres long with a nine-metre beam. It will be equipped with two electric motors and a 1.5 MWh capacity battery with charging power of more than 2 MW. This will be the world’s first fully electric and zero-emission fast ferry classed in accordance with the International Code of Safety for High-Speed Crafts (HSC Code). As the TrAM project’s demonstrator vessel, it will begin a trial passenger service between the city of Stavanger and surrounding communities and islands in spring 2022 to test and validate the project findings. The vessel has been designed for a service speed of 23 knots and has been named Medstraum (literally ‘with electricity’ and ‘co-current‘ in Norwegian).

The TrAM project was initiated by industry cluster organisation NCE Maritime CleanTech and is being coordinated by Kolumbus, the independent mobility services arm of Rogaland County Council.

The zero-emission aspect is the main driver for Kolumbus as part of its ongoing efforts to reduce the footprint of its public transport assets. Rogaland County Council has itself committed 6.8 million euros in co-funding for the vessel.

“TrAM’s overall aim is to develop new modular methods for the design and production of zero-emission fast ferries for inshore passenger transport, in order to reduce investment costs and delivery time” said project manager Mikal Dahle of Kolumbus.

Rogaland County mayor Marianne Chesak added that Rogaland County Council has a strategy to drastically lower emissions for all ferry routes and that the TrAM project showcases what is possible for future public transport – with no noise or emissions to the environment.

The TrAM project scope also includes the development of two further ‘replicator’ vessels, one for passenger operations on the River Thames in London and the other for deployment on inland waterways in Belgium.

The project partners have worked hard to optimise the design of the Medstraum and the hydrodynamic performance of the hull. Both the hull and superstructure will be built in aluminium, which in addition to low weight for lower energy consumption contributes to the circular economy as it is easy to recycle.

TrAM is also revolutionary in terms of simplified design and manufacturing of the future vessels, drawing on Fraunhofer IEM’s experiences in modular production techniques from the car and aviation industries. Using advanced modularisation, the project aims to lower production costs and engineering hours for electric fast ferries by 25 percent and 70 percent, respectively, which will significantly enhance their competitiveness.

Simply put, modularisation is a design-phase concept for handling internal complexity while allowing for external variety. Modular architecture enables individual modules to be combined so that subsequent vessels can be adapted to specific customer requirements. Reusing modules also allows for faster development and production.

For additional information:

TrAM (Transport – Advanced and Modular)

Baterías con premio en la gran feria europea del almacenamiento de energía
El jurado de la feria ees (la gran feria europea de las baterías y los sistemas acumuladores de energía) ya ha seleccionado los productos y soluciones innovadoras que aspiran, como finalistas, al gran premio ees 2021. Independientemente de cuál o cuáles sean las candidaturas ganadoras, la sola inclusión en este exquisito grupo VIP constituye todo un éxito para las empresas. A continuación, los diez finalistas 2021 de los ees Award (ees es una de las cuatro ferias que integran el gran evento anual europeo del sector de la energía, The smarter E).