Wärtsilä announced the installation of a hybrid energy system on board Norwegian offshore supply vessel ‘Viking Princess’, making it the world’s first offshore vessel with a hybrid energy storage replacing a traditional generator.
The newly installed hybrid system is expected to improve engine efficiency, generate fuel savings and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Wärtsilä claims. Namely, upon installation of the system onboard the ship, the fuel saving potential can be up to 30% in various operations and the CO2 emissions can be reduced by up to approximately 13–18% per year, depending on operational conditions and requirements.
Furthermore, the hybrid solution is expected to provide a more optimal load on the engines, while the intervals between engine maintenance can be extended.
Viking Princess now runs on a combination of a battery pack for energy storage and three LNG-fueled Wärtsilä engines. The new energy storage solution is expected to balance energy in order to cover the demand peaks, optimizing the performance of the engine.
Vermund Hjelland, President Technical Department of Eidesvik Offshore, underlined: “Eidesvik and Wärtsilä’s partnership dates back to 2003 when our ship, the ‘Viking Energy’ became the first offshore supply vessel powered by LNG fuel. Now, together, we are again introducing a world’s first, with the ‘Viking Princess’ becoming the first offshore vessel in which batteries reduce the number of generators aboard the ship.”
