By
Alex Smith |
Ferry operator Scandlines is to install a Norsepower Rotor Sail on its hybrid vessel Berlin, after the successful installation of the solution onboard sister ship Copenhagen in 2020.
The operator has collected data on the operation of the Rotor Sail on Copenhagen over the past year, examining the effect that it has had on the route between Rostock, Germany, and Gedser, Denmark. The Rotor Sail can drive a ship forward due to a phenomenon called the Magnus effect, which creates a lift force as wind meets the spinning column. This allows the main engines to be throttled back to save fuel and reduce emissions while the Rotor Sail is providing the necessary power to maintain speed.
“We expected the Copenhagen Rotor Sail to provide a four to five per cent carbon dioxide reduction,” said Michael Guldmann Peterson, chief operating officer of Scandlines. “That expectation has been met, so we have now taken the next step and prepared the sister ferry Berlin for installation.”
Berlin also operates on the route between Rostock and Gedser, which provides favourable wind conditions for the operation of the Rotor Sail. A steel foundation on which the solution will be fixed has already been built onboard the ferry during a stay at Remontowa shipyard at the end of May 2021, with the installation itself scheduled to take place during 2022.
“We are delighted that Scandlines is expanding its use of our Rotor Sail technology after achieving its carbon dioxide emissions reduction targets on its first vessel, Copenhagen,” said Tuomas Riski, CEO of Norsepower. “Our Rotor Sail technology is technically applicable to approximately 30,000 vessels in the current global fleet of ships and we hope that this is a further signal to shipowners and operators that confidence is growing in wind propulsion technology.”