Torqeedo to power autonomous ship in Kiel
The marine electric drive supplier Torqeedo has won an order to supply a complete electric propulsion system for an autonomous boat in the German city of Kiel. The electric vessel named Wavelab will be built by Gebrüder Friedrich Schiffswerft in Kiel, and is scheduled for delivery by the end of 2022.
The Wavelab is a project for sustainable urban mobility technologies. Kiel is a northern German city port on the Baltic Sea. Autonomous water taxis are to be tested as part of Kiel’s local transport plans. To this end, the Wavelab will serve as a research platform for the Clean Autonomous Public Transport Network (CAPTN) initiative in Kiel. The aim is to create the infrastructure for an integrated inner-city mobility network based on several modes of transport on water and on land.
Torqeedo says it will supply the complete electric drive system. This includes two 50 kW Deep Blue motors with steerable rudder propellers and six Deep Blue lithium-ion batteries with a total capacity of 240 kWh. The system also includes a 22 kW charger, a DC-DC converter and a DC-AC converter.
“The advantages of the electric drive are obvious, as it is emission-free and quiet,” said Sönke Stich, Sales Manager at Gebr. Friedrich. Michael Rummel, Managing Director of Torqeedo, added: “Electromobility and automation can help relieve urban congestion and reduce air pollution by shifting traffic from roadways to underutilized waterways,” said Dr Michael Rummel, managing director of Torqeedo.
Torqeedo is at home in the north of Germany but has contributed to marine zero-emission drive systems throughout the world, including electric ferries for Bangkok in Thailand, electric charter boats for the Telemark Canal in Norway, supplying electric motors to a startup in Kenya that rents affordable pollution-free boats for local fishermen or developing a fully electric propulsion system for the Canadian boatbuilder Templar Marine.
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