How much electricity does it take to move a 14,000 gross ton vessel with just battery power? As it turns out, it takes a battery system that’s four times larger than any other setup currently on the water.
Today, in the harbor of Hobart, Tasmania, the world’s largest battery-electric ship officially started harbor trials. The China Zorrilla (built by Incat Tasmania and known during construction as Hull 096) moved under its own power for the first time.
As opposed to “sea trials” which take place in open ocean, “harbor trials” are in calm, protected waters (River Derwent in Australia in this case) in which things like steering, propulsion, and all kinds of other systems are tested.
Power Capacity of the Vessel
The vessel which has been built as a ferry for operations in South America is powered by over 5,000 batteries with 40 MWh of capacity.
To propel a ship with this much size and weight, engineers had to install an energy system unlike anything seen before. Instead of a traditional engine room filled with diesel, this 426-foot catamaran-style ship is packed with about 275 tons of batteries.
This energy feeds eight electric waterjets. While it is currently being tested in Australia, the ship will eventually head to South America to carry 2,100 passengers and 225 vehicles between Argentina and Uruguay.
90 Minutes of Silent Sailing
The electric-vessel will sail the route between Buenos Aires, Argentina, and Colonia, Uruguay. The journey across the river (Rio de la Plata) will take about 90 minutes, cruising at a steady 25 knots.
In the 45 to 60 minutes it takes for travelers to disembark and new passengers to board, the ship will plug into massive shore-side chargers to “top off” its batteries for the return trip.
A Big Step
“Moving Hull 096 under its own battery-electric power is a world first at this scale and confirms that electric propulsion is viable for large commercial vessels,” Incat Chairman Robert Clifford stated, calling the harbor trials “a major step forward for large-scale electric shipping.”
While it’s unlikely you’ll be seeing large cruise ships powered by batteries alone any time soon, moving a 14,000 GT vessel entirely on batteries is still an impressive accomplishment.
Some hybrid cruise ships, like those from Hurtigruten, use batteries to sail quietly through Norwegian Fjords, but they use their battery systems in short bursts before switching traditional engines on once out in open sea.
By comparison, Hurtigruten’s Roald Amundsen (About 21,000 GT) has a battery pack of 6 MWh, making China Zorrilla’s electricity capacity almost 7 times larger at 40 MWh.
You can watch the ship’s scale and design in this launch video:
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