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As a result of ambitious climate targets and the need for more sustainable transport solutions in cities around the world the number of electric ferries and fast ferries is expected to grow rapidly in the years to come. Developments within battery technology have been vast within recent years, and ensuring efficiency and safety are key parts of the development work.

In the webinar experts also gave an introduction to the new rules for the use of batteries in maritime applications taking effect from July 1st this summer.

NCE Maritime CleanTech´s Director of Public Affairs, Marie Launes, hosted the webinar. Here are the presentations:

• Developing Norway’s first electric fast ferry – Mikal Dahle, TrAM project coordinator/Kolumbus
• Evaluating the E-ferry systems and safety measures – Halfdan Abrahamsen, Media and Information Manager, E-ferry/Ærø EnergyLab
• “Retrofitting the King” – battery ferries operating the Oslofjord – Frode Skaar, director business development Westcon P&A
• Developing Next-Generation Li-ion Batteries for Electric Vessels – Simon Clark, HYDRA project coordinator/Sintef
• Ensuring efficiency and safety in electric vessels, updated regulations – Sverre Eriksen, Senior Principal Engineer DNV GL

Watch the full webinar here:

The TrAM H2020 project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 769303.

We will ad the questions from the Q&A as soon as the questions are answered.

A new newsletter for the TrAM project is now published. Here you can read about recent developments and activities in the project. You can sign up for regular updates through the home page.

Read the newsletter here.

– We have tested a model of the Stavanger demonstrator at the Ship Model Basin in Hamburg (HSVA). The facilities are among the largest in Europe with a 300 meters long and 18 meters wide tank, says Apostolos Papanikolaou, Senior Scientific Advisor at HSVA. 

The aim of the test is to measure both the resistance and the propeller system of the vessel. In addition to developing and building a zero-emission fast ferry, the project aims to develop never-before seen modular design and production methods for such vessels.

– These are important tests. Based on the test outcome, we can choose the right engine and the right batteries for the Stavanger demonstrator, says Papanikolaou.

Construction of the demonstrator vessel will start in summer 2020 at Fjellstrand yard in Norway. 

– This test will give us the answers we need to verify that the calculations we have done so far are correct, and that we can proceed with the design as planned, says Hans Fjell, Project Engineer at Fjellstrand yard in Norway.

The fully electric fast ferry will enter into commercial operation for Kolumbus in Stavanger on January 1^st, 2022. The project will also conduct two studies for the same type of vessel in London and Belgium to explore opportunities for similar zero emission vessels on selected routes in Europe.

– This hull model test is an important milestone for the Horizon2020 TrAM project. It’s important for us to verify the calculation methods, because we will also use the calculations in the two replicator vessels in the project for London and the Belgian channels, says Project Coordinator Mikal Dahle at public transport company Kolumbus.

Creating solutions for low-cost environmentally friendly transport is a challenge that is reflected in public policy on national, European and a global level. The Horizon2020 project TrAM was established to solve this challenge.

In addition to developing and building a zero-emission demonstrator fast ferry, the project aims to develop never-before seen modular design and production methods for such vessels. The project is thus also a perfect fit with the European Commission’s economic policies where lower cost through working smart is seen as key for the European shipyards to remain competitive.

– Today ships are most often designed as a one-off. We will look at opportunities for creating modules that can be reused across application cases. By combining advanced modular production principles with ship design and construction methods, the TrAM project will allow deeper modular system integration than the currently much used one-dimensional modularity systems, says M.Eng. Tobias Seidenberg of project partner Fraunhofer IEM.

Through the project the proposed modular concept will be validated and refined through one physical demonstrator and two replicators. The demonstrator will be a zero-emissions passenger ferry that will service a multi-stop commuter route into the city of Stavanger in Rogaland County. The replicators will be delivered for the rivers and channels in London and Belgium.

– The project will make it possible for ship designers and yards to reuse a broad set of designs and ship system components, while customising the vessel as necessary for the use case. This allows for cost-efficient design and production of one-off designs, of small series, as well as larger series of vessels. We believe these methods will contribute to 25 per cent lower production costs and 70 per cent lower engineering costs, says Sales/R&D Director Edmund Tolo of Fjellstrand yard that will build the demonstrator vessel.

Identifying the opportunities

Modular production core industry and R&D competence in the TrAM project will be delivered by Fraunhofer IEM, University of Strathclyde and module supplier Leirvik.

Last week project partners were gathered at Fjellstrand yard.

Fraunhofer IEM has worked on modular architectures of cars for major customers such as the Volkswagen Group, and will lead the work on adapting modularity models from the automotive and aviation industry to the needs of the maritime industry. In October they joined Fjellstrand yard, Leirvik, University of Strathclyde, vessel owner and operator Kolumbus and NCE Maritime CleanTech for a workshop at Fjellstrand’s shipyard in Omastrand, Norway.

– An important target for this workshop is to get a common understanding of what a module is, both on macro and micro level, and what the different modules actually contains. The bridge is an example of what can be defined as a module, and we are looking into opportunities for creating a bridge that potentially can be used for all fast ferries in Norway, as well as in London, Seidenberg says.

Another topic up for discussion was opportunities for hull modularization.

When working on modularisation of ships the hull is one of the more apparent challenges. It is not as easy as just multiplying the hull for longer vessels. To achieve the best possible hydrodynamics the hull must be optimised for each vessel. However, while the shape of the aft may vary according to vessel and operating mode, we see opportunities for modularisation in the mid sections of the hull, says Research Assistant / PhD Researcher Alexandros Priftis of University of Strathclyde.

Fjellstrand yard will build the demonstrator vessel.

Construction of the demonstrator vessel will start in summer 2020. The fully electric fast ferry will enter into commercial operation for Kolumbus in Stavanger on January 1st, 2022.

New design renders now give the public a clearer view of how the demonstrator vessel in the TrAM project will look like. The vessel will be the world’s first fully electric zero-emission fast ferry of its kind, and it will operate the route between Stavanger and Hommersåk. It will be operated by public transport company Kolumbus and accommodate 150 passengers and 20 bicycles.

– The design, developed by Norwegian yard Fjellstrand, is developed based on the project’s target to develop and validate a concept for modular design and production of vessels.- The design process has been exiting, but also challenging. We have had to incorporate many new elements and needed to create a more efficient way of constructing the hulls to shape them for battery solutions rather than a traditional engine, Edmund Tolo, Sales Director in Fjellstrand says.

The construction of the vessel is planned to start in summer 2020, and the vessel will be in commercial operation on January 1, 2022.

The project will also conduct two studies for the same type of vessel in London and Belgium to explore opportunities for similar zero emission vessels on selected routes in Europe.

Fjellstrand shipyard wants to put aside the rule book on shipbuilding and look at the whole process in a new way.

Anyone involved in ship design and shipbuilding knows that every vessel is almost seen as a one-of-a-kind design and certainly as a one-of-a-kind build. It is how the industry has evolved: Ships are built to a shipowner’s or operator’s requirements, which are often based on fixed  parameters such as speed, fuel consumption, and cargo or passenger capacity.

With these limitations in mind, blueprints are created, more detailed plans are approved by a classification society, financing secured and building started, block by unique block.

Fjellstrand is part of the European Union-funded Transport: Advanced and Modular (TrAM) Project, which is coordinated by Rogaland County Council through its transport company Kolumbus. was initiated by industry cluster NCE Maritime CleanTech. The €11.7m project initiated by industry cluster NCE Maritime CleanTech aims to build what would become the fastest battery-powered, zero emission, high-speed aluminium ferry. Not only does it seek to build on a growing level of zero-emission competence in Europe, but to do so by re-evaluating the actual design and build process.

So, what if shipbuilding could emulate some of the advances seen in airline construction or car manufacturing? What if the modular approach,  where  core components or central frames that are constant across a range of models while other variable components or systems can be selected depending on changing demands?

As well as building a high-speed clean ferry, the TrAM Project is about building a process template that can then be copied for other vessels. The project will develop three distinct uses for a zero-emission aluminium ferry: one for European inland waterways another for a London city Thames commuter ferry and the first vessel, to be built to serve a community near Stavanger from 2022.

All three have different speed, depth, passenger capacity and range and noise requirements, but all three have identical design features.  A shipyard might elect to go through the same traditional design process for all three  ferries, but what if the only things that were changed in the design systems arrangements of the vessels, were those that needed to be changed?

Nearly all modern vessels are designed with their operation in mind says Dr. Christoph Jürgenhake, group manager at German Fraunhofer Institute for Mechatronic System Design IEM, one of the TRaM consortium members.

Fraunhofer IEM is an application-oriented research organization. Its focus is on how objects and systems. including manufacturing processes, work and can work better. Its staff are experts in this kind of thinking, having worked in aviation and car production efficiency previously. They can look at the top-level requirements of a vessel, or car, and then how different building process parameters can be impacted. In TrAM Fraunhofer IEM is taking the lead in assessing how engineering planning and construction methodologies can be improved to reduce costs and time.

This is the crux of this part of the project: To determine how to create a modular approach to shipbuilding that create significant savings by enabling engineering and production to be replicable and modular.

Dr. Jürgenhake explains that project’s objective is to find the key part of the design that is common to all these three possible designs and then build modules up for there. By borrowing this approach from car and airline makers, the aim is to have set of designs that can still be tailored for operational needs. For example, he notes that VW uses a central module in the chassis around which many different models can be built. “It is a new way of thinking for shipowners and operators,” he says. “They need to look at the total lifecycle cost when looking at the system design options.”

While the TrAM Project has yet to find an ideal design, initial sketches suggest a twin hull, catamaran.

For Fjellstrand shipyard, this modular approach could help them in a challenging shipbuilding market where reducing costs remains a priority.

“Of course, there is the reduction of labour cost if any of the processes might be automated but this modular approach to design might also lead to more efficient use of materials,” says Fjellstrand’s head of research and development, Edmund Tolo. “We see that several car types are built on the same platform and see that there is a benefit in the cost within that industry. We have no reason to believe that this should not be the case also within the maritime industry.”

If so, then other partners in the project, such as aluminium firm Hydro Extrusions, or Leirvik, a company focusing on superstructures, could create a standard module that could be used on different vessel designs, such as a deep-water high-speed ferry, or a shallow draft, slow speed, rapid turnaround vessel with larger passenger capacity.

The project partners recognise that by revaluating the process of designing and building a vessel engineering cot can be cut by up to 70%, and production costs by 20%.

The key parts of this EU Horizon 2020 Research Programme-funded project is to bring together partners that can take a new and revolutionary look at vessel design and construction processes, test it out on a first vessel and then look at how the modules are used to create the two other designs for the Thames and Europe’s inland waters.

In the TrAM project ship operators in Norway, UK and Belgium come together to solve a common goal; to create lower priced environmentally friendly ships.

This challenge to create solutions for low-cost environmentally friendly transport is reflected in public policy on national, European and global level. The European Commission’s 2050 Low Carbon Economy policy states that greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced to 80% below 1990 levels, through making low-carbon transition feasible and affordable.

This goal is a key starting point for the TrAM project, that bring together the complete value chain in both inshore and inland waterways transport and adds modularity competence from both the R&D sector and the industry. The project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program.

– Two important goals in this project is to lower the cost of design and construction of electric vessel through modular production methods and making sure that system components and designs can be reused across vessel types. Putting together a diverse set of experiences and capabilities at a European level will ensure that we succeed, says TrAM Project Manager, Geir Hagen in Rogaland County Council’s ferry operator subsidiary Kolumbus.

Kolumbus has a strategy to move to zero emission for all its ferry routes and will co-finance the demonstrator in the TrAM-project. This will be a fully electric fast going passenger vessel that will operate the Stavanger-Hommersåk route from 2022.

Utilizing the similarities

The aim of zero emission transport is shared by the two other operators in the project; Thames Clippers and de Vlamsee Waterveg. Thames Clippers is facing both competition from other transportation modes and increasing pressure to move to more environmentally friendly alternatives than diesel engines for its operations into the city of London. De Vlamsee Waterveg is a major regulator of Belgium’s inland waterways and see modular zero-emission transport as the solution to regain competitiveness on economic and environmental levels.

In December the operators and research partners met in London to discuss similarities and requirements for the three routes and vessels.

– The objective of the meeting was to establish a set of bottom-up analysis-based requirements for modular ship design. We are analysing both the ship itself and the infrastructure and environment in all three regions. Based on this analysis we will develop a concept approach for cost efficient modularisation and standardization of vessels, says Doctor of Engineering Christoph Juergenhake from Fraunhofer IEM.

In London the participant were able to investigate Thames Clipper’s operations in real life.

If we compare river Thames and the Stavanger route there are off course many differences, for example when it comes to required capacity, water draft, speed requirements and even national class regulation. But we also defined the similarities that we will take with us into the design process, says R&D/Sales Manager Edmund Tolo from yard Fjellstrand.

The TrAM project started in September 2018 and will be completed in 2022.

About the TrAM project
The TrAM-project (Transport: Advanced and Modular) is developing modular production methods for a more cost-effective construction of zero emissions vessels. The collaborating partners will use the advantages of scale and standardisation with customisation options, focusing on inshore vessels (operating coastal areas and inland waterways) with electric power systems. At least one demonstrator vessel will be physically built to operate a multi-stop commuter route into Stavanger, Norway. The demonstrator will be a fully electric fast passenger ferry with zero emission to air and sea. The project will also conduct two studies for the same type of vessel in River Thames, London and on the canals in Belgium to explore opportunities for similar zero emission vessels. This will pave the way for lower priced, environmentally friendly ships also in other routes in Europe.

TrAM H2020 project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 769303.

The EU project TrAM was officially kicked off in September 2018. It marked the start of a journey towards the world´s first zero emission fast ferry, built through modular production methods.

Four years from now, workers commuting between Stavanger and neighbouring islands will travel silently and emission free by sea. But the legacy of TrAM is much more than a unique zero emission vessel. Through modularization the project will also revolutionize Norwegian production of zero emission vessels.

Funded by the EU
The TrAM project was awarded funding through EU´s Horizon 2020 programme in January 2018. It was a result of years of hard work and successful cooperation between Rogaland County Council and NCE Maritime CleanTech. Together they developed a strong application and hand-picked participants for a strong consortium with actors from both the industry and leading research institutions.

– We are very eager to get started to develop this zero-emission passenger vessel, which will be in operation outside Stavanger from 2022. The project gathers leading European expertise within ship building, propulsion and zero emission technology. We also have several world-leading partners from the research industry, she says.

– The main purpose of the project is to develop new modular manufacturing methods that will reduce the vessel cost by 30 percent. This will make electric-powered high-speed vessel more competitive in terms of both cost and the environment, Hege Økland adds.

High climate and environmental ambitions
The operator of the local route is Kolumbus, a public transport company owned by Rogaland County Council. Kolumbus has ambitious environmental targets for the public transport sector and look forward to cooperating with local and international technology and know-how providers.

– We have people here from Greece, Germany, Scotland, Norway, Belgium and the UK. We have people from the industry and we have bureaucrats like me, in the same room.  We need to meet each other, have discussions and clarifications and find out how we are going to do this, Project Manager in the County Council Iver-Jan Leren says.

Will learn from aviation and automotive industries
One of the research institutions involved in the project is Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering (IAO). The company has developed production methods for large companies such as Volkswagen, Audi and Boeing.

 – The project is really interesting for us, because we can adapt methodologies we have used in the aviation and automotive industries and transfer them to the maritime industry, Dr Ing Christoph Jürgenhake of Fraunhofer IAO says.

He explains that their approach to the project is completely different to that of a mechanical designer. The latter would normally start with the shape, while Fraunhofer will start with the functionality and try to modularize the ship to adapt the production technologies.

– What the maritime industry can learn is how to modularize their product structure and architecture. In the maritime industry most ships are built as one-offs, in contrast to planes and cars which are built in larger volumes. Much more effort is put into developing the parts, he says.

“Hydro-powered” fast ferry
The route between Stavanger and the suburb Hommersåk has been operated by local ferries for close to 100 years. For many people the route is an institution, and in only four years’ time the passengers will be among the first in the world to commute via a zero emission fast ferry powered solely by hydro power charged batteries.

– The vessel developed in the TrAM project will be in route from January 2022 and it will be zero emission. The project will be an important enabler for the industry to reduce their costs in the future. I am 100 per cent sure, Iver-Jan Leren of Rogaland City Council says.

Rogaland County Municipality and NCE Maritime CleanTech has been awarded 11.7 Million Euros to develop an electric high-speed passenger vessel to operate between Stavanger and Hommersåk on the west coast of Norway. This is one of the largest amounts to have been awarded to a single project in the EU’s Horizon2020 research programme, and the project will revolutionize Norwegian production of zero emission vessels. The project will also conduct two studies for the same type of vessel in London and the inland waterways of Belgium.

Initiator of the project is industry cluster NCE Maritime CleanTech. Rogaland County Municipality is a partner in the cluster, and will, as the owner of the vessel connection and a purchaser of transport services, be the project coordinator. The project will result in a new fully-electric high-speed vessel with zero emissions. In addition, new manufacturing methods will contribute to 25 per cent lower production costs and 70 per cent lower engineering costs. Rogaland County Municipality’s application beat more than 100 other applicants in the competition.

“I’m proud that we receive financial support from the EU. It is an important and major recognition of our collaboration with the industry cluster and vessel operator Kolumbus to develop a zero emission high-speed vessel. This means that Rogaland, Western Norway and Norway, with the county municipality at the forefront, can become a world leader in the development of this type of technology. This is a major contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which is a focus area for the county municipality as well,” says chairman of the county council Solveig Ege Tengesdal.

The project will also conduct two studies for the same type of vessel in London and Belgium to explore opportunities for similar zero emission vessels on selected routes in Europe. Partners include Thames Clippers, which operates on the Thames River in London.

 Will revolutionize Norwegian shipbuilding
Maritime CleanTech encompasses 75 Norwegian companies from the entire maritime value chain and focuses on developing energy-efficient and environmentally friendly solutions for the maritime industries.

“This is a big day for the cluster and our partners, and an important recognition of our leading position within green and smart solutions for the ocean industrien. The project is revolutionary both in terms of zero emission technology and manufacturing methods, and will strengthen the participants’ competitiveness both nationally and internationally. It will also contribute to making electric-powered high-speed vessel competitive in terms of both cost and the environment,” says Hege Økland, General Manager, NCE Maritime CleanTech.

The Rogaland county municipality will contribute with NOK 5 million to a demonstration vessel, and has committed to putting int into service between Stavanger and Hommersåk. The vessel will be operated by Kolumbus and accommodate 150 passengers and 20 bicycles. It will operate at a speed of 23 knots.

A result of good collaboration
The Norwegian players who will contribute to developing the vessel are all members of Maritime CleanTech. Besides Rogaland County Municipality they are Leirvik, Fjellstrand, Servogear, Wärtsilä and Hydro Extrusions Norway. Valide and Kolumbus have also taken part in the project. The vessel will be built by Norwegian shipyard Fjellstrand.

“This is an important project for several reasons. By implementing battery technology the Norwegian ferries are at the forefront of the green shift, and now we are bringing this technology to the high-speed vessel market. Norwegian shipyards are experiencing tough international competition, and by reducing production costs we will become far more competitive,” says Edmund Tolo, Sales Manager, Fjellstrand.

The project is also supported by the Research Council of Norway and Innovation Norway.

“The Research Council is impressed and proud of Rogaland County Municipality and Maritime CleanTech who have succeeded in competing for coveted EU funds. These funds are only distributed to Europe’s finest. Many Norwegian enviorments are fore runners, both in the public and private sector, and we would encourage more to follow Rogaland’s example of collaboration,” says the Research Council’s International Director Kristin Danielsen.

“This is a result of targeted and strategic work over time by a forward leaning industry cluster. Maritime CleanTech saw the opportunities in Horizon2020 at an early stage, and really deserves to succeed with its project, says Mona Skaret, Director Private and Public Innovation, Innovation Norway.

The following are also taking part in the project: Wärtsilä Holland (Netherlands), MBNA Thames Clippers (UK), University of Strathclyde (UK), Fraunhofer IEM (Germany), HSVA (Germany) and Waterwegen & Zeekanal NV (Belgium).

The project will commence on Spetember 1 when the contract with the European Commission has been signed and it has a duration of four years. The value of the allocation is 11,741,643.