Welcome to the 5th newsletter of the E-ferry. We are now very close to completion of the world’s first fully electric passenger and car ferry that can operate at record breaking distances of up to 22 nautical miles between charges.

As you read this, partners in the E-ferry project are working hard to deliver and install the final components for the E-ferry, as well as for the on-shore facilities. Many of these final activities are taking place in Søby, on Ærø, from where the E-ferry will take its virgin trip and subsequently be put into operation.

As you can read below, the E-ferry hull arrived in Søby on October 1st. Since then, everyone has been working around the clock to install all the component, cables and systems that are necessary for the E-ferry to run on pure battery power. Of course, this final outfitting and installation work also includes more traditional outfitting, e.g. insulation, piping, outfitting of the bridge with state of the art navigational equipment, as well as outfitting of the passenger and crew accommodation.

Alongside the work being done on the E-ferry itself, work has also been done on the on-shore facilities. The onshore facilities in Søby, where the E-ferry will be charged, are almost completed, with only the installation of components such as the charging arm and the auto mooring still to come.

As we get closer and closer to the end of the construction phase, interest in the E-ferry is increasing. Internationally, more and more operators are looking into the possibility of electric water transportation, and are looking to the E-ferry project for inspiration. Consequently, the E-ferry project’s partners have participated in a range of conferences, exhibitions and meetings during the last six months, alongside presenting the ongoing work ‘on site’ in Søby, to various stakeholders and policymakers.

Still to come is the final commissioning, testing and approval of the various components and interfaces. This final phase of the E-ferry construction is in many ways the most challenging, but also the most exciting, as it is only then we will know that all the hard work that has been done so far was worth it. We are looking forward to entering this final phase within the next couple of months and expect to be able to present a fully-functioning and operating E-ferry in our next newsletter.

Construction work on the E-ferry was begun in August of 2016, by SSH’s subcontracting yard Ridzon, in Szczecin, Poland. In September, the 22 larger sections of the E-ferry were welded together and the hull was tugged from Szczecin to SSH’s facilities in Søby on Ærø.

Ole Jensen, Technical Superintendent for the Aeroe-ferries was onboard the tugboat for the entire journey and reported that he was very satisfied with the buoyancy and wave system of the hull: “Consulting Naval Architects, Jens Kristensen Aps (Naval) have revisited old ship design principles to design the most energy efficient hull possible for the E-ferry”, he stated. “From the way the E-ferry moved through the water during the journey from Szczecin to Søby”, he continues, “it looks as if the goal has been accomplished” While IMO’s Energy Efficiency Design Index does not apply to fully electric and hence emission free vessels such as the E-ferry, applying the principle of energy efficient design is still of crucial importance, given that the load balance of the E-ferry should be as optimal as possible.

Though the hull arrived rather early in the morning on Sunday the 1st of October, more than 100 people, including E-ferry partners, stakeholders and future passengers, were ready to welcome the hull to Ærø, from where the E-ferry will eventually be put into operation. E-ferry partners SSH, ARO and Naval have been monitoring the construction work in Szczecin, but the arrival of the hull to Ærø also gave other interested parties the opportunity to inspect the work that has been done so far. Roar Falkenberg (CEO of SSH), Jens Kristensen (Naval) and Keld Markmann Møller (Director of Aeroe-ferries) agreed to give the public free access to the hull ‘for this day only’, an opportunity that many made use of, including the Mayor of Ærø, Jørgen Otto Jørgensen, who has been involved in the E-ferry project from the time when it was merely a theoretical concept. Mika Lehmusto, Vice President of Systems Engineering at Leclanche S.A. captured what many others probably felt on the day of the hull arrival by stating: “So far we have mainly dealt with drawings and concepts, but now, we can actually see the physical setting for the technological innovations that we have worked on over the last two years.” For the next foreseeable future, the hull will be stationed at SSH’s facilities in Søby on Ærø, for outfitting, mounting and installation of all the E-ferry equipment (see below).

The hull underway from Szczecin to Søby, seen from the tugboat.

The welcome committee at Søby Harbor                                                               The hull at quayin Søby Harbor.

During the last months, the E-ferry hull production has been completed in Poland, the hull has been completely grit blasted and the first part of painting has started. More specifically, the following activities have taken place:

• Forward grand section in blasting chamber ready for blasting;

• The bow visor has been produced;

• Car deck area and shipside blasted;

• Painting of midship section

• Joining af forward block to midship and aft block

• Launching and towing to Søby;

Following, the outfitting has started in Søby, including:

• Insulation of battery rooms;

• Insulation and floating floor in crew area

• Installing of switchboards and other electrical equipment

• Docking for final painting and installation of all underwater equipment such as rudders and propellers

• Installation of battery racks

• Installations in wheel house

• Mounting of masts including navigation lights.

Developing and operationalizing an electric ferry goes far beyond the actual ferry. A wide array of onshore activities must come together to successfully put the E-ferry into reliable operation and this entails substantial work on the three harbors where the E-ferry will dock. The onshore work on the mainland harbors, Fynshav and Faaborg, involves adapting the existing ports to accommodate the E-ferry, which is slightly bigger than the conventional one currently in operation, while the work on the onshore facilities in Søby (Ærø) is more comprehensive, given that it will host the E-ferry’s charging infrastructure. The onshore reconstruction was initiated on Søby Harbor in June 2017 and is rapidly progressing in order to finish in time for the demonstration period in the first quarter of 2018. Existing on-shore facilities have been adapted, while a new loading ramp, that will hold the charging arm for the E-ferry has been installed, along with the hydraulic house that will house the hydraulic pump for both the ramp and the charging arm.

An existing, but un-used docking facility in Søby has been reconstructed for the E-ferry. The ramp will be operated by the crew on-board the E-ferry, whereas the charging arm will connect automatically. In case of an error in remote control or automation, both units can be controlled from the hydraulic house, for which reason it has been equipped with windows.The transformer house has been established and the transformers from the local power supplier that will supply suffiecient power to the E-ferry have been mounted in the house. Visedo's inverters that transform the electricity from AC to DC will also be installed in the house shortly. The next – and final –step is to install and connect all the components, in particular to ensure that the power from SE’s transformers are first inverted to DC, then directed to the charging arm on the ramp, through cables.

The ramp for the E-ferry and the hydraulic house from which both ramp and charging arm can be controlled in case of error with automation and remote control.

This large box measuring 5x3.5x1.5 meters is housing the vital charging arm and plug that will provide the E-ferry with power. The smaller box on the image to the right is the female plug that will be installed on the ferry.

32 of such cables will pass the power from the transformer house to the charging plug. The cables are expected to be laid towards the end of 2017.

Preparing tests of composite materials

Tuco has been working to supply lightweight fiber-reinforced composite elements and has contributed to the process of securing approval of these elements for implementation in the E-Ferry structure. While the approval procedure has proven cumbersome and challenging to accomplish within the allocated project timeframe, the determined effort continues. The endeavor to implement composite materials is guided by a number of conditions, including the general vessel design, the associated structural loads and the rules and regulations pertinent to approval of composite materials.

The necessary knowledge on the structural performance of composite elements is highly specialized. Consequently, Tuco has relied on external structural engineering consultancy to develop and verify performance of the proposed designs. Supplemented by additional information on the physical properties of fiber-reinforced composites, the original data on structural loads was used to calculate and verify mechanical performance of the relevant composite structures, i.e. spoilers. Both sandwich structures and monolithic laminates have been calculated to structural equivalence in compliance with the relevant rule framework

Concurrently, Tuco has been in dialogue with Danish Institute of Fire and Security Technology (DBI) that provides support with regards to fire safety. Implementation of new materials in maritime applications requires compliance with the Fire Test Procedures code (FTP code), and DBI has provided support in identifying the sections that must be satisfied to attain final approval of composite structures. This information has been used to qualify two suppliers of composite materials to get their input on the material systems most likely to reach compliance with the pertinent rules: • Vinyl ester-based resin from Saertex (LEO) complying with some, of the FTP code. • Epoxy-based resin from SP Gurit (Sprint) originally developed for the railway industry. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to translate approval from one application into other related applications and industries and therefore new fire tests must be performed. Nonetheless, this resin shows great promise.

Currently, results of internal supplier testing are pending and Tuco is preparing construction of specimens for fire testing. DBI will carry out the tests and compile a report for approval by the DMA. The outcome will determine the extent to which CFR elements can be implemented and help achieve greater efficiency in a safe manner.

Reaching out

With the hull now ready and having arrived in Aero, the final steps towards the outfitting are taking place. The partners have therefore placed significant efforts on the dissemination of activities and results. First of all, the Project and its outcomes were presented to a number of Danish politicians and ministers: Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, Minister of Energy, Utilities and Climate, Lars Christian Lilleholt, Members of parliament Ida Auken and Søren Egge Rasmussen.

Given the opportunity of several E-Ferry partners participating at the Electric & Hybrid Marine World Conference and Expo, the Project organized its 5th Consortium Meeting on the 7th of June, 2017 at the Amsterdam RAI, in The Netherlands. A General Assembly Meeting also took place during which the partners discussed important operational and financial issues.

The most prevailing dissemination actions undertaken are the following:

• E-Ferry @ the H2020 Waterborne research conference: Competitive, Safe and Sustainable: Trine Heinemann presented the Project, while the head of INEA, Alan Haigh listed E-ferry as an example of a H2020 project with high technological readiness level (photo below)

• The E-ferry @ the Ærø-dagen: visitors navigated an E-ferry model in the simulator, participated in the competition for tickets to the VIP cruise and were the first to see the ferry’s decoration.

• E-Ferry was presented in the well-respected French newspaper, Le Figaro, in the prominent Greek newspaper TO VIMA and in Fyns Amtsavis, Ingeniøren, Søfart, MarinaNews, all in Denmark.

• 4th International Conference on Energy, Sustainability and Climate: Ms. Annie Kortsari presented the achievements of the project in the Conference organized in early June in Santorini, Greece.

• E-Ferry @ the consultation organized by the ELEMED Project on the regulatory framework for shipping electrification.

• Mr. Antti Varynen presented the E-Ferry battery solution at the Offshore Battery days 2017.

• E-ferry was presented locally to a delegation from Svendborg Municipality, local Rotary, graduate and undergraduate students from University of Southern Denmark and Aalborg University, pupils from local and regional public schools etc.

• The E-ferry battery system was presented by Cecilie Larsen at the Danish-German PE: Regional seminar on Battery Technologies for Electro Mobility and Smart Grid purposes, in Germany.

• The arrival of the hull to Søby was celebrated on the harbor. Visitors were informed on the different components of the E-ferry, while the event was covered by several Danish media.

• Ms. Trine Heinemann presented the Project at the International Conference on Transportation Research (Greece) and the Passenger Ship Sustainability Conference (UK) • Important contacts were established, especially in view of the Business Plan being underway, during the 42nd Interferry Conference in October.

What’s next?

• Finalization of Ellen’s outfitting and initiation of the demonstration.
• Finalization of the “E-Ferry Market Study and Business Plan”
• E-Ferry will be present at the upcoming TRA Conference through an exhibition of the battery module,presentation of the project video and with at least 2 presentations.
• Getting ready for the E-ferry intermediate Conference and VIP Cruise!