Through a project involving five of the cluster partners in NCE Maritime CleanTech the 20-year-old ferry MF “Folgefonn” now has the world’s most modern charging system. The successful project represents a notable breakthrough in the evolution of plug-in electrically operated vessels
In the west coast of Norway an automatic wireless induction charging system has now been successfully tested on the hybrid powered coastal ferry MF “Folgefonn”. The project involves five of the partners in NCE Maritime CleanTech; Wärtsilä, Norled, Fjellstrand, Haugaland Kraft and Apply TB.
Folgefonn is a double-ended, 85-meter-long, ro-ro hybrid-powered passenger ferry servicing Jektevik-Hodnanes in Norway. It carries 76 cars and 300 passengers and is owned by Norled, which operates 45 car ferries across Norway. The ferry was built as a diesel-powered ferry in 1998. Through a NCE Maritime CleanTech project it was retrofitted into a hybrid diesel/electric vessel in 2014, and since then it has been successfully tested for both hybrid and fully electric operation. Benefits of the project include considerable reductions in emission and increased operational efficiency. Project partners were Norled, Wärtsilä, Fjellstrand, Mecmar, Servogear, SKL and Apply TB.
– Folgefonn was Norway’s first ferry to be retrofitted for hybrid operation, and it has been an important innovation platform for our cluster members. The ferry has also had an important role in testing and demonstrating an environmental friendly technology that is currently being implemented in ferries across the Norwegian fjords, says CEO in NCE Maritime CleanTech, Hege Økland.
The world’s most powerful wireless charging system
The wireless charging system that was installed on the ferry in June 2017 has been developed by Wärtsilä. To the system Cavotech has delivered a vacuum-based automated mooring technology where vacuum pads mounted on the quayside moor and release the vessel in seconds.
– There is an ongoing trend to equip coastal ferries with battery powered and hybrid propulsion since they are particularly affected by environmental regulatory demands. Wireless charging will offer the ship owner benefits such as up to 20 percent more utilisation of the available charging time, increased operational safety, and greater system reliability, says Ingve Sørfonn, Chief Expert, Electrical & Automation, Wärtsilä Marine Solutions.
The system transfers 1.2 MW of power within a range of 15-50 cm. No other wireless charging system is as powerful, or capable of maintaining the transfer of energy at such a distance.