Wärtsilä Marine Solutions is currently prototyping the world’s first inductive power charging system (wireless), as opposed to conductive (a physical cable), to charge a hybrid-powered car ferry in Norway.
“During recent years, wireless inductive charging technology has been introduced for cars, buses and trains. Wärtsilä has now made this possible also for marine vessels, and we are ready to implement this on a real ship,” says Ingve Sørfonn, Chief Expert, Electrical & Automation, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.
In the past four years, the company has developed and standardised the technology to charge ship batteries without connecting cables. In January 2016, Wärtsilä joined forces with engineering and automation firm Cavotec to offer a combined induction charging and automatic vacuum mooring solution for coastal ferries via Cavotec’s vacuum mooring pads that are recessed into the dock.
From a connection on the superstructure of a ship, to a power outlet on a dock, the new Wärtsilä inductive power system can transfer 1 MW of power within a range of 15-50 cm, which is 300 times more than that of current chargers used by electric cars.
“The system eliminates physical cable connections, thus reducing wear and tear caused by seawater, snow and ice, and enables charging to begin immediately when the vessel arrives in port. Renewable energy, battery solutions and performance are improving and getting cheaper all the time. There is no reason not to implement them in coastal shipping,” continues Sørfonn, adding that the company has several patents pending for its unique solutions.
The technology is currently in the prototyping phase in the Wärtsilä lab in Stord, Norway, and it is due for full-scale implementation in the first half of 2017. According to Sørfonn, the system could play a role in future autonomous coastal transportation systems, not unlike what Google is testing with self- driving cars.