Adventure cruise company Hurtigruten Norway today revealed plans for a zero-emissions electric cruise ship with retractable sails covered in solar panels, which is due to set sail in 2030. The company currently has a fleet of eight ships, each with a capacity of 500 passengers, that travel along the Norwegian coast from Oslo to the Arctic Circle…
The resulting design will run predominantly off 60 megawatt batteries that can be charged in port with clean energy, as renewables account for 98% of Norway’s electricity system. Gerry Larsson-Fedde, SVP of marine operations for Hurtigruten Norway, who came up with the idea of a zero-emission ship, estimates that the batteries will have a range of 300 to 350 nautical miles, meaning that during an 11-day round trip, one liner would have to charge around seven or eight times.
To reduce reliance on the battery, when it’s windy, three retractable sails – or wings – will rise out of the deck, reaching a maximum height of 50 meters. They can adjust independently, shrinking to pass under bridges or changing their angle to catch the most wind, explains Larsson-Fedde. He adds that the sails will be covered in a total of 1,500 square meters of solar panels that will generate energy to top up the batteries while sailing – and the battery levels will be displayed on the ship’s side.
Hull 096 as it’s currently known, is being built by Incat in Hobart, Tasmania, a long way from its final destination in South America. It will eventually carry passengers across the Río de la Plata, between Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires and Uruguay.
The journey across the river is about 30 nautical miles (55 kilometres) and will take just over an hour. That’s going to require some serious batteries, that are able to keep Hull 096 running for 90 minutes. Superfast chargers will be installed on both sides of the river, with a full recharge taking 60 to 90 minutes…
It’s not just one big battery powering this ship, it’s more than 5,000 battery modules stacked together, weighing a total of 280 tonnes and delivering 43 megawatt hours…There are four rooms that will house the batteries, which will be stacked on top of each other, from the floor to the roof.
A union has called for e-bikes to be banned from the London Underground after one exploded on a Tube station platform. The incident at Rayners Lane station sent toxic fumes billowing across the station and caused temporary disruption to the Piccadilly and Metropolitan lines.
A cyclist was wheeling the bike towards a train and was about to board when it exploded… ASLEF, the train drivers’ union, is now threatening strike action unless Transport for London bans e-bikes. The RMT, the biggest Tube union, and the TSSA are also demanding that TfL introduces a ban.
