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Battery Power Readied for Dynamic Positioning

OSV

Published Nov 4, 2015 5:22 PM by The Maritime Executive

Lithium ion battery manufacturer Corvus Energy has announced a development deal that could see battery-powered dynamic positioning (DP) operations being possible on both offshore support vessels and mobile drilling units.

Corvus has received a strategic investment from Statoil Technology Invest to further develop its range of energy storage systems (ESS), and the move comes after the release of DNV GL’s 2015 update to its battery power and DP rules. The rules allow large-scale battery systems as functional equivalents to generator sets.

“We see initial applications in vessels, with long term potential to apply the same technology to rigs and platforms, which will contribute to Statoil’s ambition to reduce CO2 emissions,” said Richard Erskine, Managing Director of Statoil Technology Invest. 

The Statoil Technology Invest funding follows on from two previous strategic investments from Green Marine Capital. Green Marine Capital is an investment partnership of global maritime companies that draws on the heritage of the BW Group, and it has been assisting Corvus in delivering on its aggressive growth strategy.

“We have successfully demonstrated our technology is perfectly suited to the sector’s stringent performance, safety and operational requirements,” says Andrew Morden, President and CEO of Corvus Energy. “Offshore supply vessels like the Viking Lady OSV and Edda Ferd PSV that employ the Corvus ESS are field-tested and proven to meet and exceed performance and safety expectations. 

“These vessels run at peak efficiency for longer periods of time, saving fuel and maintenance costs and dramatically reducing emissions, and now, with the release of new class rules pertaining to both batteries and DP, Corvus’s ESS system will further enable the reduction in both the size and number of generator sets in vessels with DP operations.”

Corvus Energy opened an office in Norway earlier this month. Many of the ground-breaking electric and hybrid projects for the marine industry powered by the company’s battery systems are in Northern Europe: MF Ampere, the world's first fully electric car ferry; TESO Texelstroom, world's greenest passenger ferry and the Selfa El-Max, the world's first all-electric fishing boat.