By
Laura Hyde |
Scandlines will use systems from Finnish technology group Wärtsilä to electrify the passenger ferries operating on its Puttgarden-Rødby route between Germany and Denmark.
Wärtsilä will supply, install and commission electrical systems for both the Schleswig-Holstein and Deutschland ferries, two of the four vessels operating on the route. As part of the conversion project, Wärtsilä will remove the diesel generator from each ferry and replace it with a five megawatt-hour energy storage system. Work is scheduled to start in the second half of 2025.
The electrical systems will contribute about 80 per cent of the energy needed for the Puttgarden-Rødby crossing. Scandlines hopes to operate the route without direct emissions by 2030 and realise its zero direct emissions vision by 2040.
“We are so pleased to have the most important supplier in place, and we are very much looking forward to working with Wärtsilä and getting started with the conversion,” said Michael Guldmann Petersen, CEO of Scandlines. “With the plug-in hybrid ferries, we can get even closer to our goal of operating the Puttgarden-Rødby route emission-free by 2030.”
Wärtsilä carried out its first hybrid retrofit conversion in 2012. The company’s extensive and long-standing experience was a key consideration for Scandlines for this project.
“We are excited to support Scandlines with their vision towards delivering environmentally sustainable transport options for the region,” said Roger Holm, president of Wärtsilä Marine and executive vice president at Wärtsilä Corporation. “Ship electrification is one of the solutions for marine decarbonisation and as the world’s biggest conversion project of its kind, we can help Scandlines move closer to meeting their goal of making the route emission-free by 2030.”