Largest battery retrofit planned for ro-pax ferry

This will increase battery storage five-fold on the Aurora Botnia, owned and operated by Finnish shipping company Wasaline, from its existing 2.2MWh.

The batteries to be used are the lithium iron phosphate type, which do not have the same risk of igniting as lithium-ion batteries and do not contain cobalt, the element notorious because much of it is known to be mined by children in the Congo.

At the moment, the hybrid ferry vessel is propelled mainly by dual-fuel LNG engines, which could be switched with biogas if available.

The new load of batteries by AYK Energy will also be used as propulsion and will reduce the amount of LNG needed by about 10,000MWh, Wasaline says.

The ferry is a modern ship with two cargo decks, accommodating 935 passengers and with a freight capacity of 1,500 lane metres for trucks and cars.

“We are continuously working to establish the Vaasa–Umeå route as a green shipping corridor”, said Peter Ståhlberg, Managing Director of Wasaline. “There’s growing demand for environmentally friendly transport, and intermodal cargo transportation from Europe is increasing yearly. This means the entire transport chain can be carbon-neutral today.

“Expanding our battery capacity is a major step that allows us to make our vessel even more sustainable and allocate more capacity to batteries and biogas. Our collaboration with Finland’s and the region’s energy clusters makes innovative solutions like this possible and we are proud to be a forerunner in the industry.”