The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) and the Singapore Maritime Institute (SMI) have awarded funding to three consortiums to research, design, build and operate a fully electric harbourcraft over the next five years.
These electrification pilot projects will demonstrate both commercial and technical viability of specific use cases for full electric harbourcraft and will support Singapore’s broader plans to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by the maritime transport sector.
The funding for these projects will also enable various technologies and charging infrastructures to be studied, test-bedded and deployed across different types of harbourcraft and operating profiles, through use cases proposed by the consortiums.
The use cases involve two passenger ferries of different capacities and a lighter craft. By bringing together industry and academia, innovative and commercially viable solutions can be developed to support the deployment of electric harbourcraft in Singapore. Beyond the technologies and solutions, new business models will also be developed by the consortiums to enable wider adoption of electric harbourcraft.
MPA and SMI had launched the joint call for proposals on the electrification of harbourcraft in September 2020 after a series of workshops with the industry. The call for proposals drew strong interest from the maritime community with 73 maritime companies and 10 institutes of higher learning and research institutes submitting a total of 16 proposals.
Senior Minister of State for Transport, Mr Chee Hong Tat, stated:
To build a sustainable hub port, we plan for the 1,600 harbourcraft operating in our waters to run on low-carbon fuels. One possible solution is the electrification of our harbourcraft fleet, which reduces carbon emissions and has zero pollution
Moreover, SeaTech Solutions International VP Technology, Prabjot Singh Chopra, added that electrification of Harbour Crafts is critical for the multi-pronged initiatives by MPA in the journey of maritime decarbonisation.
