Andorra-based marine battery manufacturer, AYK Energy has installed what it claimed to be the world’s largest marine battery on Brittany Ferries’ new hybrid LNG-electric ferry, ‘Saint-Malo’.
The 12 MWh Orion+ battery was manufactured and installed at China Merchants Jinling Shipyard Weihai within four months.
‘Saint-Malo’ will operate the Portsmouth UK to St Malo France route starting early next year. She recently completed sea trials.
AYK Energy founder Chris Kruger said the vessel will be able to operate on zero-emission battery power while arriving and leaving port, immediately improving air quality and cutting emissions in built-up port areas. He explained that the vessel is designed to run on LNG, battery power, or a combination of the two.
In Portsmouth, the ship will further benefit from the port’s plug-in shore power. Portsmouth is claimed to be the only UK ferry port to offer shore-to-ship electric power connections.
“We are delighted the sea trials were successful and we cannot wait to see the ship in operation. A decade after I installed the battery on the first ever hybrid electric ferry, we are now starting to see battery powered electric ships compete with internal combustion engine vessels on price.
“That is what has to happen if the industry is going to kick start the transition to electric ships. The change is now starting to happen,” Kruger said.
He added that over the past six months, AYK had received a higher number of quotations for vessels requiring bigger batteries. These included ferries, tugs and windfarm vessels.
Kruger further said that with pressure increasing on European shipowners from regulators in the form of legislation carrying heavy fines, such as FuelEU and the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), due to come into force in 2025, going electric is becoming more attractive.
“We have supplied what we call a ‘power’ battery for Brittany Ferries, which means it works in combination with fuels like LNG. But we are now seeing that the technology is there to go fully electric, with what we call an ‘energy’ battery. This is the future,” he said.
Last month, AYK launched its latest battery, Pisces. This battery has enough energy density to provide full power to larger vessels, such as ferries, OSVs, drilling rigs and windfarm vessels.
Kruger added that AYK’s new 5,000 sq m Chinese factory in Zhuhai played a key role in installing the batteries in such a tight time frame. Production is ramping up at the factory with sales already projected to reach 100 MWh this year.
He also revealed that the company is now actively looking at building gigafactories in Europe and America to support the growth of the business.
