Wärtsilä and Stena RoRo to develop world's largest hybrid battery-LNG vessels

Marine fuel tech firm Wärtsilä says two of the three ferries it is developing will have a battery capacity of 11.5 MWh, making them the world’s largest hybrid vessel by battery capacity so far.

PHOTO: Model of Brittany Ferries' hybrid battery-LNG vessel. Portsmouth

Wärtsilä is developing a hybrid propulsion system for three RoPax vessels build for Swedish ferry firm Stena RoRo.

The batteries will be lightweight and smaller in size than batteries currently used in other hybrid vessels, but have almost twice the battery capacity, claims Wärtsilä.

Stena RoRo and Brittany Ferries have jointly designed the vessels, which will be long-term chartered to Brittany Ferries.

The hybrid vessels will run on LNG and can operate partially or fully on battery. They will run between the UK’s Portsmouth and the French ports of St. Malo and Caen.

Their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions can be further reduced by up to 15% by connecting them to shore power, says Wärtsilä.

Portsmouth International Port plans to install onshore power supply for Brittany Ferries, and is working to scale its electricity supply network as it needs to be ready before Brittany Ferries' takes delivery of two new hybrid vessels.

The ferries are currently being built at China’s Jinling (Weihai) Shipyard, with expected deliveries between 2024 and 2025.