Torqeedo has opened a direct sales office in Norway to serve the growing market for electric marine propulsion systems there. This is Torqeedo’s eighth direct sales office worldwide.

The Norwegian company Teco 2030 is planning Norway’s first “gigafactory” for fuel cells for use in ships. Fuel cells with an output of 1.2 gigawatts per year are to be produced there.

In spring 2021, the first all-electric charter fleet will start operating on the Norwegian Telemark Canal. The fleet will be comprised of six charter boats equipped with Torqeedo e-drives from the Slovenian shipyard Greenline Yachts.

Ballard Power Systems signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Global Energy Ventures for the development of a new fuel cell-powered ship, called C-H2 Ship, designed to transport compressed green hydrogen. A small-scale, under 10 MW demonstration of the C-H2 Ship to be built initially.

Covestro and the Dutch logistics service provider Netherlands Partikuliere Rheinfahrt-Centrale Coöperatie (NPRC) want to convert the salt transport fleet on the Rhine to hydrogen-powered ships in a joint project.

ZF is now adding further electrified components for shipping to its portfolio of maritime hybrid transmissions, specifically electric motors, power electronics and control levers. According to the driveline specialist, this provides a complete solution from a single source.

The Canadian-Norwegian battery specialist Corvus Energy has announced that it will start developing and producing maritime fuel cell systems on a large scale in cooperation with Toyota.

ABB has won an order from South Korean shipyard Haemin Heavy Industries. The Swiss company will supply a complete power supply and propulsion solution for the Busan Port Authority’s first all-electric passenger ferry.

ABB has scored the debut deal with Dutch luxury yacht builder Oceanco. They will use Azipod technology to supply propulsion to a superyacht. Both partners consider this the beginning of future projects in a market ABB estimates to exceed $10 billion by 2025.

A group of 13 partners from the entire value chain of ship electrification have launched ‘Current Direct’, a research project that aims, among other things, to reduce the cost of battery-electric propulsion systems in shipping and build an ‘Energy as a Service’ platform.

Yachts de Luxe (YdL) from Singapore wants to build the world’s first luxury boat with lithium-sulfur battery technology and against this background has signed a contract with the Li-S specialist Oxis Energy. Williams Advanced Engineering is also on board as project partner.

With everybody stuck at home, it pays to look to the wide-open waters. Or to the smaller blues of Lake Starnberg that is home base to Torqeedo. 15 years in the game, the small enterprise has become the market leader in e-mobility on water, and we wanted to discover what’s next.

ABB has secured a contract worth around 150 million US dollars to supply the complete power and drive package for cruise ships built by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri. The electric drives will still be powered by diesel engines, but are said to reduce fuel consumption by 20%.

The German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia has presented a hydrogen roadmap. Detailed targets for 2025 and 2030 are ambitious while it remains unclear, where the hydrogen will come from.

ABB Marine & Ports has selected XALT Energy to supply battery systems to power two hybrid ferries for the British ferry company P&O, which are expected to operate regularly on the English Channel between Dover in the UK and Calais in France from 2023.

The Norwegian company Freyr is planning a 32 GWh battery cell factory in Norway and has now signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Siemens Energy and Elkem each on the supply of cells and anode active materials.

Plymouth Boat Trips and Voyager Marine have launched the UK’s first sea-going electric ferry, named e-Voyager. The electric ferry was developed in partnership with the University of Plymouth, the University of Exeter, Teignbridge Propellers, MarRI-UK and EV Parts. Testing is now underway.

Toyota’s modular H2 propulsion solution REXH2 will be used for another maritime application: The system will be installed in the Hynova 40, a twelve-meter yacht for up to twelve passengers. The system has already been tested on board the Energy Observer catamaran.

Danfoss Editron is supplying Energy Absolute with the electric propulsion systems for Thailand’s first fleet of all-electric passenger ferries that will operate on the Chao Phraya River. Each of the 24 meter long ferries can carry 200 passengers.

Alejandro Agag wants to establish a third racing series following the two electric car series Formula E and Extreme E, but this time with electrically powered racing boats. The series will be called E1 and does not yet have a starting date.

Danfoss Editron has received an order from the Norwegian shipyard Grovfjord Mekaniske Verksted (GMV) to supply hybrid propulsion systems for a fleet of unmanned exploration vessels. Four of the vessels are scheduled for delivery in 2021, with seven more to follow in the following months.

Corvus Energy has been contracted to supply the battery systems for five new all-electric ferries to be built by Holland Shipyards for the transport company GVB in Amsterdam. The first electric ferry should be delivered in summer next year.

The European Parliament has voted for the inclusion of CO2 emissions from maritime shipping in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme to decarbonise naval transport. Now the EU Parliament is to begin negotiations with the EU states on concrete legislation.

Ballard Power Systems has just announced the introduction of a fuel cell module for the primary propulsion of ships. The new module, called FCwave, has an output of 200 kW and can be connected in series up to an output of several megawatts.

Norwegian Electric Systems (NES) recently completed the delivery of five all-electric propulsion systems for ferries operated by the Norwegian transport company Fjord1.

The Norwegian shipping company The Fjords has put a second purely electric ferry into service. After the ‘Future of the Fjords’ already went into service in 2018, the sister ship ‘Legacy of the Fjords’ will follow.

Today the European Commission has adopted the EU Strategy for Energy System Integration and Hydrogen. The former tackles charging infrastructure and grids, while the H2 Strategy focusses on long-haul and heavy-duty vehicles and hydrogen infrastructure.

In Norway, a 42-meter-long, all-electric ferry for 297 passengers will soon go into operation. The Rygerelektra, built by the Norwegian shipbuilder Brødrene Aa, will be used by ferry operator Rødne Fjord Cruise as a sightseeing ship in the coastal town of Stavanger in the south of Norway.

The German company Alva Yachts, a decidedly electric boat builder, has just launched its first electric watercraft. Alva Yachts’ debut models are the electric catamarans Ocean Eco 60 and Ocean Eco 90 and the hybrid sailing yacht, Ocean Sail 82.

The Finnish technology group Wärtsilä is to develop two new purely electric ferries kitted out with the company’s drives. The ships will be built for the Norwegian operator Boreal Sjö by shipbuilder Holland Shipyards in the Netherlands.