Dutch maritime photo voltaic innovator Wattlab has delivered a photo voltaic vitality system for HGK Delivery’s inland transport cargo vessel Blue Marlin. In what’s introduced as a big technical milestone for sustainable inland transport, the vessel’s 192 photo voltaic panels will present energy to each the onboard and propulsion methods, making the Blue Marlin the primary inland transport vessel on the earth able to hybrid crusing with solar energy.
HGK Delivery is a European inland waterway transport firm working a fleet of 350 vessels. With annual freight figures within the area of 43 million tonnes, HGK Delivery is taken into account to be a number one participant in European dry bulk, fuel and chemical transport. Wattlab, which can be energetic within the seagoing transport trade, brings broad maritime expertise to this pioneering undertaking.
Wattlab has labored beforehand with HGK Delivery. In Q2 2024, HGK’s 135-metre lengthy dry cargo vessel MS Helios made headlines – and entered The Guinness E book of Information – for having the world’s largest photo voltaic panel set up on an inland transport vessel. The MS Helios is supplied with 312 photo voltaic panels.
The photo voltaic vitality methods of the Helios and the Blue Marlin differ in a single vital facet. Not like the Helios, the place photo voltaic vitality was used completely for low-voltage onboard (lodge) methods, the Blue Marlin includes a extra superior, totally built-in system able to contributing energy on to the ship’s excessive voltage electrical propulsion.
It is a technical milestone mentioned Wattlab co-founder and COO David Kester. “The Blue Marlin’s 192 photo voltaic panels usually are not solely related to the low-voltage onboard methods but in addition to the high-voltage propulsion community. Which means that HGK Delivery can proudly state that they’re the primary inland transport firm to function a vessel that makes use of solar energy immediately for propulsion.”
Power administration good points
Delivering as much as 35 kilowatts, the Blue Marlin’s solar energy system will function along side 4 diesel mills powering the electrical propulsion system. The setup permits ‘peak shaving’, the place the mix of photo voltaic vitality and batteries will stop the necessity for activating a further generator throughout high-demand durations. “The system’s automated vitality administration will distribute electrical vitality the place and when it’s required, growing effectivity and lowering gasoline consumption,” mentioned a press launch.
“Moreover, in conditions the place the ship is flippantly loaded and travelling downstream, we anticipate that it could even sail utilizing solely solar energy for restricted durations—an unprecedented achievement within the inland transport sector,” mentioned Kester.
Incremental advance
He urged a big technical milestone had already been reached with the development of the Helios, and the Blue Marlin represents an additional advance by additionally utilizing photo voltaic vitality for the ability practice. “It makes one other essential contribution to creating transport, which is already a low-emission mode of transport, much more sustainable”, mentioned Tim Gödde, Director Ship Administration at HGK Ship Administration Lux Sà rl.
Set up of the Blue Marlin’s photo voltaic panels happened at De Gerlien van Tiem shipyard, with Wattlab cooperating carefully with Blommaert Aluminium and Van Tiem Electro. “We’ve got been working with these companions for a while now – on a number of vessels – so have managed to essentially optimise the processes. The Blue Marlin is a new-build vessel; it took about one week for set up adopted by just a few days for commissioning,” mentioned Kester. “Contemplating a similar-sized retrofit undertaking, we estimate {that a} shipowner can be a downtime of no a couple of week.”
This undertaking additionally marks a broader evolution in maritime decarbonization methods, mentioned the group. As regulatory stress will increase and gasoline costs fluctuate, shipowners and operators wish to diversify their vitality combine. Wattlab’s scalable photo voltaic options are proving their viability not solely on inland waterways, but in addition on coastal and seagoing vessels.
