By
Alice Chambers |
EST-Floattech will provide its Green Orca 1050 battery module for Rolls-Royce Power Systems’ motor and turbine union (MTU) hybrid propulsion packs, which will be fitted onboard Liberty Line’s nine new hybrid fast ferries.
The partnership involves the delivery of 33 lithium polymer battery modules, each of which will offer 10.5 kilowatt-hours of power.
The batteries will allow for cruising speeds of up to eight knots and the packs will help Liberty Lines to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions and noise levels while operating.
“The partnership is a milestone achievement for EST-Floattech Hamburg,” said Walter van der Pennen, chief commercial officer at EST-Floattech. “Rolls-Royce Power Systems and EST-Floattech will work well together. Both companies are setting milestones on the road to climate-neutral shipping with the approved Series 2000 and Series 4000 MTU marine diesel engines, respectively the approved and DNV-certified Green Orca 1050 batteries.”
The ferries will be built at Armon shipyard in Spain and are scheduled to set sail between 2023 and 2026. They will operate between Sicily and Croatia, with plans to offer crossings to and from smaller Italian islands too.