Environmentally Friendly Ferry Fueled by Hybrid Drive System

Article from Electric & Hybrid Marine International, June 2020

On the ferry Farge, which transports vehicles and people across the Weser near Bremen in Germany on a daily basis, a hybrid drive system ensures huge fuel savings, minimal emissions and improved maneuverability.

The Technology

Diesel generators and electric motors are combined in the Farge for maximum efficiency. Three diesel generators are fitted, of which two are regularly in operation and one is for emergency use. These generator power units provide a total capacity of over 1,300kVA.

The diesel units act only as generators and as such are not exposed to power peaks. As a result, they can always be operated in their optimum range, while also being smaller than traditional diesel propulsion engines.

Excess energy produced by the generators or returned to the system through feedback is stored in batteries instead of being lost as heat, as was previously the case. The batteries are housed in a separate battery room and have a total capacity of 80kWh. The batteries effectively act as an energy buffer, so peaks that are required by the drive are not transmitted to the generators, but rather absorbed with energy from the batteries.

The Farge ferry can even be driven completely electrically.

The result is an efficient and environmentally friendly ship with an innovative drive system, meaning it not only meets current environmental requirements, but significantly exceeds them. It is the first hybrid passenger and vehicle ferry of this size class in Germany.

The Baumuller system uses our U27-36XP U-Charge batteries in two independent systems in a 13s2p configuration providing a total of 92kWh at 500 V.

Watch the video here: https://youtu.be/Ftz_zIDqeIk

Article Link: https://www.ukimediaevents.com/publication/1309e3a8/76