AYK Energy builds 3-MWh battery for Greenpeace flagship vessel

AYK Energy, headquartered in Andorra, has announced it is expanding its production capacity to fulfil a “prestigious order” to supply the battery for Greenpeace International’s new flagship vessel. The 75-meter-long sailing ship is currently under construction at the Freire Shipyard in Spain. According to the company, AYK Energy secured the order through a system integrator. The Andorran supplier will provide its Aires+ battery system, which offers a capacity of three megawatt-hours and was recently certified by the classification society DNV.

Greenpeace’s new vessel is designed to operate nearly emission-free: Propulsion will be provided by two electric propellers and 1,746 square meters of sail area, supplemented by solar panels and the AYK batteries. Hydrogen and methanol will serve as backup fuels for the engines. Greenpeace International has stated that the ship will operate as fossil-free as possible upon commissioning and is engineered to transition to 100 per cent renewable energy as soon as technically feasible.

AYK founder Chris Kruger remarked, “We are extremely proud to be supporting this transformative Greenpeace International project alongside our integration partner. It’s a flagship vessel not only for Greenpeace International, but for the future of low-emission shipping. This deal reflects growing recognition of AYK’s expertise in safe, high-performance marine batteries. AYK’s batteries will be critical to enabling silent, zero-emissions operations during sensitive campaigns and operations in emissions-restricted areas.”

This order marks the culmination of a successful year for AYK Energy. The company recently installed two 12-MWh batteries (Orion+) on the hybrid-electric ferry ‘Guillaume de Normandie’, operated by Brittany Ferries, following a similar installation on its sister ship, the ‘Saint-Malo’. Both projects represent some of the world’s largest ship battery installations. The ferries are now in service and can operate emission-free on battery power when entering and leaving ports.

Kruger emphasised that AYK Energy aims to lead innovation in electric shipping. “We all want to see fewer emissions and green shipping. But batteries will only be part of the decarbonization agenda if ship owners see a financial benefit. There has to be a compelling business case. And that’s what the new AYK range, which will be installed on the Greenpeace International vessel, is all about – mass adoption of batteries that can pay for themselves within a matter of years.”

AYK achieved a significant milestone this summer when the classification society DNV approved its Pisces, Pisces+, OrionAN, and OrionAN+ batteries, as well as aluminium versions of existing AYK modules, all developed by AYK Energy. The battery system intended for the Greenpeace vessel has also since received approval.

aykenergy.com, freireshipyard.com

This article was first published by Cora Werwitzke for electrive’s German edition.