Existing battery-powered ship system configurations are summarised; battery developments are considered, impacts of battery application on ship performance are discussed in the paper supported by a case study Keywords: low carbon shipping, battery powered ships, small ships, coastal ships. 1. Introduction
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Currently, for shipboard propulsion, Li-ion batteries offer the highest energy density, a suitable power density, high efficiency and an acceptable lifetime.
The offshore supply vessel Viking Lady . Battery-hybrid propulsion system on board the Viking Lady . Typical setup of a diesel/gas electric battery hybrid propulsion system . MF AMPERE-the world's first all-electric car ferry . The ship's delivery was in October 2014, and it entered service in May 2015.
Experimental craft such as Planet Solar which has 8.5 tons of Lithium-ion batteries in its two hulls with solar cells to recharge them and the ZEMSHIP in which a 2.5 kWh Lithium battery working in a hydrogen fuel cell hybrid system (Zemships, 2010). These developments show there is increasing interest in battery power for small ships. Table 1.
4.1.1. Solar/battery powered ships Solar/battery power system is the typical power system configuration for medium and small-scale solar-powered ships. The “Sun 21” (Fig. 9 a) was the world's first solar-powered ship to cross the Atlantic in 2006, with 65 m 2 PV panels between the hull to supply the ship power system .