Statoil published an article on the benefits of having batteries on Eidesvik's Viking Energy offshore supply vessel.
1. Fuel Savings. According to the article, "on average, Viking Energy’s fuel consumption has been reduced by 16-17%, and in dynamic positioning mode, the fuel consumption reduction has been as high as 28%."
2. More stable operations: According to a crew member, “the manoeuvrability of this ship is incredible”. Since the battery takes care of the variations on load due to the waves for example, the engine doesn't need to handle the related surges.
3. Silent Operations: “It’s incredibly nice here”, said another crew member, “It’s so quiet because we’re running on batteries most of the time we’re in port.”
The batteries on the Viking Energy were provided by ZEM in conjunction with partners Nidec ASI, and integrated by Westcon Power & Automation.
The full article can be found here.
