DNV presents modelling of Hybrid cranes to the press, with promising results for the emerging maritime battery industry. In an effort to find out what the actual savings are from using batteries in hybrid ships, DNV has simulated the second by second operation of ship cranes.
At a tour of the Norwegian shipping scene in Bergen, maritime journalists were given a presentation of our simulation results (see here).
Why would you use battery hybrid power production on a ship for crane operations? As mentioned in an earlier post here, battery hybrid operation saves on
- running combustion engines on optimal load,
- reducing transients of engines, the efficiency is lowered when the engine changes load,
- by using regenerative braking of the electric cranes, generating electric power while lowering the cargo.
![Operational strategy for a battery hybrid system]( "Hybrid Strategy")
The blue line is the power demand that must be met by the Diesel engines in a conventional design. The green line is the power output of the Diesel engine in the battery hybrid solution, where the battery takes care of all peaks and troughs. The hybrid solution uses 30% less fuel.
In a forthcoming journal paper describing our modelling of crane operations for a specific ship, we conclude that there is a 30% reduction in fuel consumption with the installation of a battery, and that the payback time is less than a year.
By detailed simulations with accurate results we hope to assist ship owners in making the correct choice when they consider whether or not to install batteries on their ships.
