VANCOUVER — B.C. Ferries aims to be on the leading edge of environmentally friendly ship propulsion by adopting liquefied natural gas to power new vessels, but some conservationists are leaning on it to push out to the “bleeding edge” with all-electric power.
Adopting a more conservative approach, B.C. Ferries estimates that its plan to replace three intermediate-class ferries with dual natural gas/diesel-fuelled vessels alone will cut its greenhouse-gas emissions by 9,000 tonnes per year, the equivalent of taking 1,900 cars off the road.
However, it could hit zero emissions on shorter routes, according to the B.C. Sustainable Energy Association, if it followed Norway’s lead. For one short crossing, the Norwegian government has commissioned a battery-powered ferry, the Norled MF Ampere, using batteries manufactured in Richmond, B.C.
B.C. Ferries is watching, said Mark Wilson, the corporation’s vice-president of engineering, but it wants to see more of a track record from new propulsion systems so it can evaluate them on a “like-for-like” basis with traditional vessels before the technology is factored into vessel-replacement plans.
B.C. Ferries does work on reducing its environmental impact, Wilson said, but its primary focus is maintaining fleet safety and containing costs. And for a corporation under fire for rising fares, it’s goal for adopting new technology is “not to be bleeding edge, but leading edge,” Wilson added.
BCSEA co-founder Guy Dauncey, however, is more impatient, even though the Norwegian ship isn’t in service yet.
“Clearly Norway had no one to go to to say ‘who’s done this first,’ ” Dauncey said. “Someone has to pioneer, and it’s nice to see pioneering happen.”
He’s also skeptical of LNG as a lower-carbon fuel solution given controversy over hydraulic-fracturing techniques in gas drilling and the “fugitive” methane emissions that are produced.
Dauncey and co-researcher Thomas Cheney wrote a brief paper outlining existing examples of electric powered vessels, such as the conversion of one 100-passenger vessel in Sweden and the newly built 120-car MF Ampere in Norway, as possibilities for B.C.
The BCSEA has also engaged in gentle lobbying (its president and board chairman, Gord Kukec, is on B.C. Ferries’ board of directors). Dauncey noted B.C. Ferries serves eight routes that are 30 minutes or less, which he contends would be suitable for battery-powered vessels.
Ferry vessels are assets that have to last 40 to 45 years, Wilson said, and the corporation needs to make a business analysis over that kind of life cycle.
B.C. Ferries is buying three intermediate-class ferries, which will carry 145 cars and 600 passengers, for $250 million with the intent to run them on liquefied natural gas (although they could also run on diesel fuel). That should reduce their fuel costs 30 to 50 per cent, and cut greenhouse gas emissions 15 to 25 per cent.
There was “no significant” capital-cost increase associated with the dual-fuel systems that BC Ferries is procuring, either as new builds or refits for existing vessels, Wilson said. But they have “probably 10 million hours” worth of operating history, with close to 40 vessels already in service.
Wilson said countries promoting the more cutting-edge systems also offer subsidies and incentives (B.C. Ferries is getting $6 million itself from its LNG supplier, FortisBC) to help their business cases.
Right now, Scandinavia and Northern Europe offer “a perfect storm” of conditions — from extremely high fuel taxes to public-policy pressures to reduce carbon emissions — for pursuing electric options, according to Sean Puchalski, an executive at Richmond-based battery manufacturer Corvus Energy, which supplied batteries to Siemens for the Ampere’s propulsion system.
“In Europe, they’re exploring the electrification of shipping to a large extent,” Puchalski said, mostly through diesel-electric or LNG-electric hybrid systems. “I guess it’s mostly due to the courageousness, for a lack of a better word, of initial clients.”
Puchalski said this trend in ship propulsion started with the discovery that diesel-electric systems, where diesel generators are used to drive electric motors, are more efficient than straight diesel power.
Some of the biggest projects Corvus has worked on have been conversions that add large battery banks to make more electricity available.
In B.C., Seaspan was the first operator to take up similar technology with its order last November of two LNG-electric ferries for its commercial-truck ferry service from Turkish shipyard Sedef Shipbuilding, which it expects to be in service by late 2016.
For a vessel of its size, Puchalski said, the Ampere is a “groundbreaking” ship that is already winning accolades, though it is just finishing sea trials and testing before going into service.
In a brochure, Fjellstrand Shipyard called the Ampere “an important first step” building non-polluting ships, and a possible template for similar ships on 30 different routes on Norway’s fiords.
Testing of the Ampere has gone well, said Odd Moen, Norway sales director for Siemens Marine Solutions, and it is slated to go into service in the coming weeks.
B.C. Ferries is looking to replace 12 vessels from its 35-ship fleet over the next 10 to 15 years, Wilson said, and as battery-powered vessels gain more operating experience they will be able to better evaluate a business case for them.
Dauncey said that hybrid and battery power have proven their reliability in the automobile industry, so he doesn’t think the corporation should be hesitant when it comes to marine applications.
“I would love to hear someone say ‘we’re going to send someone to Norway to take a closer look, and it’s really interesting,’ ” Dauncey said.
Norway’s first battery-powered ferry
Name: MF Ampere
Owner: Norled
Design: ZeroCat 120
Builder: Fjellstrand Shipyard and Siemens AG
Length: 88 metres
Beam: 21 metres
Capacity: 120 cars, 360 passengers
Power: 2 Rolls-Royce Azipul thrusters, powered by 450 kW Siemens electric motors
Route: 5.7 km crossing between Lavik and Oppedal on Sognefjord, which lies north of Bergen on the North Sea coast
Crossing time: 20 minutes, with 10 minute layover at either end
• The Norwegian trade journal Skipsrevyen named the ZeroCat 120 its ship of the year for 2014 for its innovations, including a lightweight catamaran-style aluminum hull and first-of-its-kind battery-powered propulsion system.
• Norled won a government bid in 2012 for a low-impact ferry on the route with the ZeroCat proposal, which earned it a 10-year contract for the vessel.
• ZeroCat 120 is intended to displace consumption of one million litres of diesel and cut Norway’s greenhouse-gas emission by 570 tonnes per year.
• The vessel’s batteries would take a quick, top-up charge from special battery packs during layovers between crossings, then charge fully overnight.
