VESSELS

Corvus to power carbon-free tugboat

4 years ago

Norway-based Corvus Energy has won an order to supply a shoreside battery energy storage system (ESS) for Crowley’s zero-emissions tugboat project.

Currently under construction at Master Boat Builders in Alabama, the Crowley eWolf, the first all-electric tug in the United States, will go into service in San Diego’s harbour in 2023 alongside its shoreside charging infrastructure.

Corvus will supply both the 6.2MWh Corvus Orca ESS on board eWolf plus the shoreside system comprising two Corvus Orca BOBs – the containerised version of its Orca ESS – with a total capacity of 2,990 kWh.

“The use of the Corvus Orca ESS shoreside will allow eWolf to charge quickly, potentially avoiding the need to upgrade the electricity grid infrastructure at the port,” said Ole Jacob Irgens, Corvus Energy – President Americas.

“Since the Orca ESS has a high C-rate, it is capable of discharging quickly and safely so that eWolf will be quickly recharged and returned into service.”

Corvus Orca BOB plug-and-play battery room

The Corvus Orca BOB is a class-approved, modular battery room solution in standard 20 ft ISO high-cube container size. Each container has almost 1.5 MWh of energy storage capacity and is capable of ‘fast-charging’ the Crowley eWolf tug.

The complete ESS comes with Orca battery modules, battery monitoring system, HVAC, TR exhaust, and firefighting and detection system. The ‘Plug and Play battery room’ is said to simplify integration into any system integrator’s onboard power management system.