Shiprepair & Maintenance: eNews February 2017 
Kaohsiung City Shipping Ltd has introduced what is claimed to be Asia’s fist hybrid electric ferry
The 23m Ferry Happiness has a top speed of 9knots operates between the city harbour and the popular tourist destination of Cijian Island. Ferries run every 15 minutes on this route and take 5-10 minutes to cover the 650m route. The hope is that the vessels fuel consumption will be halved.
The Finnish company Visedo OY working in conjunction with Taiwan’s Ship and Ocean Industries R&D centre (SOIC) have replaced the ferries original 300 HP diesel engines with a hybrid electric propulsion system powered by Super B’s Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries and Visedo’s power train.
Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries have two important advantages over other lithium-ion chemistries and those are thermal and chemical stability, both of which improve battery safety.
Visedo OY, a leading Finnish manufacturer of electric drivetrains for marine vessels, commercial vehicles and heavy duty applications. Their electric machines are based on synchronous reluctance assisted permanent magnet technology (SRPM), which are liquid-cooled and designed to work as traction motors in harsh operating environments. Compared to conventional technologies, like induction machines (IM) or standard permanent magnet motors (PM), the SRPM motors are smaller, lighter and more efficiency.
Mr Kimmo Rauma, Visedo CEO, said, “Visedo has developed a cost-effective and efficient alternative, so rather than waiting until a vessel’s service life ends, harbour cities can swap noisy, dirty and expensive diesel for silent electric powertrains that are more efficient, can halve fuel costs and emit no fumes or oil pollution.”
Mr Lin head of SOIC’s system development said, “Like many East Asian harbour cities, in Kaohsiung ferries play a key role for everyday public transport, often playing the role that buses do elsewhere.” However, as a consequence the city harbour has long suffered from air pollution. The Municipal authorities are committed to cleaning up its fleet and are considering the possibility of upgrading all 11 of its vessel to hybrid-electric power. They are also looking at a hybrid tug-boat project.
