The Challenge
The Windfarms OEMs are now correctly pushing hard to reduce the GHG of their whole supply chain and getting towards true zero. One of the immediate areas to work on is transport including the vessels that are servicing and building the farms.
The windfarms are producing cheap, green energy and the windfarm operators wish to use some of this to energy power their CTV’s, reducing cost and emissions.
The challenge, as with other forms of transport, is to reduce the energy requirement of the vessel as well as accomodating the weight and volume of the drivetrain and power storage.
The Solution
The 30m ProA design naturally lends itself towards a hybrid drivetrain as the hull resistance and hence power requirements have been dramatically reduced compared with other hullform types. The long slender hullform plays a perfect role in reducing the hull resistance, while maintaining an equiavlent build cost of a much shorter catamaran.
We are working with major brands at the forefront of hybrid technology and developing several possible alternative drivetrains for the 30m Proa, taking advantage of the advancements in battery technology, fuel cells and offshore charging. Depending on the assumed daily operational profile our simulations show savings of up to 77% at 26 knots and up to 96% at 20 knots (assuming offshore charging).
