Spanish warship to cut fuel consumption with electric propulsion

Engineering major ABB has inked a deal with Spain's state-run shipbuilder Navantia to retrofit a naval vessel with an electrical propulsion system.

PHOTO: ABB’s electrical propulsion system. ABB

The Juan Carlos I, an assault ship, will be retrofitted with a propulsion system where the electric drive motor is housed within a pod outside the vessel's hull.

The Azipod electric propulsion solution “has been shown to cut fuel consumption by up to 20 percent when compared with traditional shaftline propulsion systems,” ABB claims.

The "first of its kind” retrofit on a warship is expected to be completed by 2025.

By Tuhin Roy

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