The industry consortium behind the Ocean Charger project, led by Vard, has completed the demonstration of the charging solution in a port as well the connection solution offshore, proving the technology designed to supply clean power to offshore wind vessels is ready for the market.
By connecting vessels to the power grid in the wind farm and charging batteries regularly, the Ocean Charger solution is securing availability of emission-free vessel operations.
The Ocean Charger has proved through the tests that it can power operations at the field without using any additional energy sources, according to Vard.
Charging tests have been done in port with high voltage charging of the ship`s batteries. Testing of the Ocean Charger offshore connection solution has also been done, and according to project partners, the successful demonstration involved the connection and disconnection the cable under certain conditions.
Rem Power was the first vessel to partake in the testing of Ocean Charger project.
With a strong consortium of industry and research partners, including Seaonics and Vard Electro, partners Rem Offshore, Solstad Offshore, SINTEF Energi, SINTEF Ocean, DigiCat, Sustainable Energy, Equinor, Source Galileo Norge, Corvus Energy, Plug, Shoreline, Norwegian Offshore Wind Cluster, University of Bergen, NORCE and Maritime CleanTech, var has led the work to develop the solution.
“For us it is extremely important to be a part of the Ocean Charger project. We can show what we have told for years, and now we have partners bringing this along, and we can prove to the market that this is doable,” said Ronny Pål Kvalsvik, COO in Rem Offshore.
“The Ocean Charger project and what it represents, the ability to charge vessels offshore, is a central enabler for us as shipbuilders to deliver zero emission ships to the offshore wind industry,” added Håvard Vollset Lien, leader of the project and Vice President Research and Innovation in Vard Group.
The project is now ended and ready for the market, Vard said.
“We have proven that the concept can be done, so we are really proud of all the partners here and we are looking forward to the next phase,” noted Ada Jakobsen, CEO of Maritime CleanTech.
In December 2022, the Ocean Charger Concept was awarded $3.5 million (NOK 38 million) through the Norwegian Government's support scheme called the Green Platform Initiative.
In the coming years, a substantial new maritime infrastructure will be developed and built for the offshore wind industry in Norway.
Based on the development for other segments, batteries have proven to be the most mature technology for zero or low-emission vessels, which constitutes the basis for developing the Ocean Charger project.