Acta Centaurus, a new DP2 walk-to-work offshore wind construction support vessel owned by Netherlands-based Acta Marine, will be fitted with hybrid propulsion capability from Wärtsilä, the Finland-based technology group announced on Thursday.
Hybrid propulsion will allow the vessel to operate with less running engines at more optimized load, creating fuel consumption and environmental benefits.
The solution to be provided by Wärtsilä includes the hybrid drive, the batteries and an energy management system, and the company will also carry out the installation, testing and commissioning of the hybrid system, as well as upgrading the existing onboard systems of Acta Centaurus to make it suitable for hybrid drive, it said. The order with Wärtsilä was placed in May 2019.
The installation of the equipment needed for the hybrid conversion will take place during the fourth quarter of this year.
“Hybrid propulsion is becoming an increasingly adopted trend for meeting the challenges faced by today’s maritime industry,” said Joel Knif, General Manager, Marine Project Sales, Wärtsilä Marine. “Wärtsilä has been a forerunner in developing the technology to make this both possible and feasible, and our track record in this field is already significant.”
The Wärtsilä hybrid propulsion solution provides benefits deriving from the flexibility and efficiency provided by the technology. These vessels have a high dynamic positioning load and thus fluctuating power requirements which is an ideal situation for hybrid and can result in a CO2 reduction around 15%.