An all-electric ferry, able to carry around 30 vehicles and 200 passengers has carried out its maiden voyage. Namely, the e-ferry Ellen sailed between the Ports of Soby and Fynshav, located on the islands of Aero and Als in Denmark.
The ship is powered by batteries, which have a capacity of 4.3 megawatt hours, supplied by the energy storage company Leclanche. The company expects the ferry to be fully operational in the next few weeks.
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What is more, over the course of one year, the innovative ferry could stop the release of 2,000 tons of CO2, 2.5 tons of particulates and 1.4 tons of SOx.
The e-ferry project has received funding from the European Union, and it is capable of sailing up to 22 nautical miles between charges.
Commenting on the ferry, Leclanche said that it showcases that we are able to replace fossil fuel thermal drives with clean energy, in order to tackle global warming and pollution.
This attempt comes in the midst of pending IMO regulations, which will ban ships using fuel with a sulphur content of over 0.5%, in comparison to levels of 3.5% today.