Vard Design has led the work together with sister companies Seaonics and Vard Electro.

Charging tests in port as well as testing of the offshore connection solution have demonstrated that the Ocean Charger is an important step towards delivering zero emission ships to the wind industry.

By connecting vessels to the power grid in the wind farm and charging batteries regularly, the Ocean Charger solution is securing availability of emission-free vessel operations. The Ocean Charger has proved through the tests that it can power operations at the field without using any additional energy sources.

Charging tests have been done in port with high voltage charging of the ship`s batteries. Testing has also been done of the Ocean Charger offshore connection solution and we have demonstrated successfully that we can connect and disconnect the cable under certain conditions.

The partners are Rem Offshore, Solstad Offshore, SINTEF Energi, SINTEF Ocean, DigiCat, Sustainable Energy, Equinor, Source Galileo Norge, Corvus Energy, Plug, Shoreline, Norwegian Offshore Wind Cluster, University of Bergen, NORCE and Maritime CleanTech.

Tested on board Rem Power

Rem Power is the first vessel to partake in the testing of Ocean Charger project. COO in Rem Offshore Ronny Pål Kvalsvik underlines the importance of being part of this project:

– For us it is extremely important to be a part of the Ocean Charger project. We can show what we have told for years, and now we have partners bringing this along, and we can prove to the market that this is doable.

With a strong consortium of industry and research partners, VARD has been leading the way from research to testing, validation, and commercialization of new technological solutions for energy transfer to battery-powered ships offshore.

-The Ocean Charger project and what it represents, the ability to charge vessels offshore, is a central enabler for us as shipbuilders to deliver zero emission ships to the offshore wind industry, says Håvard Vollset Lien, leader of the project and Vice President Research and Innovation in Vard Group.

The project is now ended and ready for the market.

– We have proven that the concept can be done, so we are really proud of all the partners here and we are looking forward to the next phase, says CEO in Maritime CleanTech Ada Jakobsen.

Award winning project

Ocean Charger was awarded Vessel Charging Innovation of the Year during Electric & Hybrid Marine Expo Europe in 2023.

The Electric & Hybrid Marine Awards is a celebration of recent advances in marine propulsion technology and progress toward a greener and more sustainable industry. The awards, which were coordinated by Electric & Hybrid Marine Technology International magazine, were officiated by a panel of international journalists and industry experts.

The Green platform initiative

In December 2022, the Ocean Charger Concept was awarded 38 million NOK through the Norwegian Government’s support scheme The Green Platform Initiative.

In the coming years, a substantial new maritime infrastructure will be developed and built for the offshore wind industry in Norway. Based on the development for other segments, batteries have proven to be the most mature technology for zero or low-emission vessels. This technology constitutes the basis for developing the Ocean Charger project.

Source: NOW