24 ms·

Norwegian Shipbuilders Turning to Battery Power

176 points by zerogvt 9y ago

donquichotte 9y ago
Missing from the article: - Battery capacity: 1MWh [1] - Charging power: 6MW (assuming they charge the full battery in the 10 minutes mentioned in the article) Unfortunately, I cannot find the article, but I believe I once read that charging the batteries that quickly caused problems with power grid stability, so they had "auxiliary batteries" at the ports that they charged with lower power, and then transferred the energy from those batteries to the ship batteries with high power, which effectively tripled the battery cost. [EDIT: the issue is actually mentioned in article [1], where they have two 410kWh shore charging stations] [1] http://corvusenergy.com/marine-project/mf-ampere-ferry/ http://corvusenergy.com/marine-project/mf-ampere-ferry/
- Robotbeat 9y ago
  Depends. They can offset the cost of the stationary buffering batteries by using cheaper time of use electricity. I believe that's what Tesla does (when they can) with Superchargers. ...and this is /part/ of the reason why 7 cents per kWh for their Tesla Semi Megachargers isn't completely bonkers...
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    Tesla uses batteries at supercharger to avoid demand charges from spikes in power demand when vehicles are charging (load shaving).
- clort 9y ago
  They don't need to charge the full battery in 10 minutes, since they didn't fully discharge it in the previous 20 minutes of cruising.. The article didn't say how long the service could be sustained without any charge but if the battery can be topped up at intervals so that the ferry can keep running all day until it recharges fully overnight then that would be a good result. Also there will be margin built in because it costs a lot more if you have to replace the batteries when they fall to 95% of the original capacity rather than 80% or less.
dougmany 9y ago
from a separate article: http://corvusenergy.com/marine-project/mf-ampere-ferry/ http://corvusenergy.com/marine-project/mf-ampere-ferry/ >Rather than installing additional electrical capacity to the ports, an onshore Corvus Energy 410kWh ESS comprised of 63 AT6500 Liquid-Cooled modules was installed on both sides of the route, each providing near instantaneous transfer of power to the vessel ESS.
- draggnar 9y ago
  That's a fantastic idea.
  - mschuster91 9y ago
    And it could be used in a smart grid environment to provide a stabilization power... after all, it's known when a ship will be needing the power (divide the distance by the top speed and the ship physically cannot arrive earlier), and so as long as it is ensured that the battery is topped up when the ship arrives for a recharge, the capacity can be used for grid stabilization.
    - zeristor 9y ago
      I imagine when batteries are more prevalent there will be far more competition in providing grid stabilisation services. A second order affect I imagine, once there are scores of other systems available locally.
corradio 9y ago
Let's also remember it matters where the electricity comes from. You're not necessarily going green if you use coal-based electricity. Source: https://www.electricitymap.org https://www.electricitymap.org
- Diederich 9y ago
  > You're not necessarily going green if you use coal-based electricity. Agreed. At the same time, moving from direct use of fossil fuels to even indirect use of fossil fuels via electricity is a real move that at a minimum facilitates future sustainability.
  - geofftrojans 9y ago
    Exactly. Theoretically, it is much easier to improve efficiency and reduce emissions if power generation is consolidated in one place.
- Robotbeat 9y ago
  In the US, coal electricity is now just 30% of the grid, compared to 32% for other fossil fuels (almost all natural gas), and actually 38% for emissions-free (half of that is nuclear and the other half a mix of wind, hydro, solar, and geothermal roughly in that order). That means the US CO2 emissions per kWh are significantly better than Germany, by the way. And beware of old data. Even a couple years makes a difference. From 2014 to 2017, CO2 emitted per kWh has dropped by 13%. (My figures mostly come from here, which has up to date info through December 2017: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_1_01 https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.ph... along with calculations for emissions per kWh based on efficiency and CO2 per heat unit for a given fuel source.)
  - somecallitblues 9y ago
    “That means the US CO2 emissions per kWh are significantly better than Germany, by the way." what? Where did you get that from?
fulafel 9y ago
How much CO2 per kWh does it come to when you divide the total CO2 footprint of the battery manufacture and materials over the charge cycles of the battery? edit: One study[1] indicates the figures are 150-200 kg CO2 equivalent per 1 kWh of battery. So for 1000 cycle durability, that would make 150-200 g per kWh even without counting the CO2 effects of charging power[2]. Diesel engines emit 250 g per kWh[3] of energy produced. Doesn't sound like such a great tradeoff. [1] http://www.ivl.se/download/18.5922281715bdaebede9559/1496046218976/C243+The+life+cycle+energy+consumption+and+CO2+emissions+from+lithium+ion+batteries+.pdf http://www.ivl.se/download/18.5922281715bdaebede9559/1496046... [2] Even if Norway produces low emission hydro electricity, the same electricity could be used to displace dirty power if exported to Denmark etc. [3] https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/co2-emission-fuels-d_1085.html https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/co2-emission-fuels-d_1085...
- nine_k 9y ago
  You can charge batteries using hydro power. You can't (economically) produce hydrocarbon fuel using it, though.
  - fulafel 9y ago
    Yes, I addressed this in the comment's [2] footnote.
- durkie 9y ago
  From your [1] study: "The largest part of the energy use in the production of lithium-ion batteries comes from electricity use." Converting ships to batteries allows them to become cleaner as the grid becomes cleaner.
  - fulafel 9y ago
    It expands: "The largest part of the emissions, around 50%, is currently from battery (including cell) manufacturing, but if the material processing to battery grade is viewed as one total it is in the same order of magnitude." So one half is amenable to improvements if the manufacturing transitions to clearn electricity. But this is not likely to happen in a big way anytime soon, because the manufacturing happens in coal-heavy Asian countries: https://www.statista.com/statistics/235323/lithium-batteries-top-manufacturers/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/235323/lithium-batteries...
spodek 9y ago
The best way to reduce emissions is to reduce consumption. Let's help the process by buying less stuff to reduce the number of ships. We'll produce less litter and pollution too.
- narag 9y ago
  The best often diverges from the good. Ad absurdum: if we get extinct, we'll produce less litter and pollution.
  - digi_owl 9y ago
    "Perfect is the enemy of good"?
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
bjourne 9y ago
How come sails aren't making a comeback? Seems like an ideal complement to electric ships. Use the wind to recharge the batteries using generators or to propel the ship forward. When there is no wind, run on the energy stored in the batteries.
- WhompingWindows 9y ago
  Sails don't collect nearly enough energy to move a ferry which is capable of moving hundreds of people and over 100 cars. What do you mean by recharging batteries using generators and using wind? If you mean turbines, keep in mind most turbines are hundreds of feet tall and their blades are extremely long. Overall, wind turbine technology is far, far too large for ships to utilize.
- jalayir 9y ago
  The decks are stacked up with containers. No room for sails
  - digi_owl 9y ago
    Kinda. I recall reading about one suggestion for using high altitude "kites", and i could have sworn i have also seen one where the sails would be more similar to what you find on a Junk. In both instances the operations would be largely computer controlled, and reserved for the open seas.
- CodeCube 9y ago
  This is in the works ... not to recharge the batteries, but literally as an assist to the existing engines: https://www.iims.org.uk/quadriga-set-become-worlds-biggest-sailing-cargo-ship/ https://www.iims.org.uk/quadriga-set-become-worlds-biggest-s... edit: I can't find it offhand, but remember also seeing a video of a startup in SF, that's experimenting with an innovative sail system for the purpose of outfitting on ferries. These sails look more like vertical wings than the usual sail (which on many points of sail is actually a vertical wing) ... and the "flight controller" would basically trim them via rotation to the ideal position when they can eke out any knots to help them preserve diesel. And if they get caught in a squall, they simple head the sails into the wind to reduce windage. So it should be a very safe system to reduce the ferry system's usage of fossil fuels. Looked like a really interesting idea.
0xFFC 9y ago
As someone who doesn’t know anything about batteries, I have some questions about lithium. 1) Do we have lithium shortage? 2) When do we expect to have lithium shortage? 3) Do we have any alternative technology for batteries? 4) How green is lithium in the environment? 5) Is lithium recyclable? 6) What is the future for batteries? Sorry, I asked a lot of questions.
- nico_h 9y ago
  1) no 2) Don't know (maybe extraction shortage but not absolute shortage) 3) Aluminium air "batteries", Lithium Ion Graphene battery, solid state, flow battery ... 4) not super green 5) yes 6) different technologies for different applications
  - MertsA 9y ago
    Aren't there pretty big unsolved problems with recharging Aluminum air batteries?
- maxerickson 9y ago
  Sodium ion batteries are on the cusp of commercialization. But lithium ion is getting cheaper faster, so there isn't a lot of investment.
gjem97 9y ago
> For now, electric ships make most sense in populated waterfront areas where they can be recharged easily and improve air quality and noise pollution And probably requires a duty cycle that can afford sitting at a dock for hours a day to recharge, right? So passenger ferries (that typically don't run 24-hours a day)?
- skykooler 9y ago
  It spends ten minutes at the dock charging on each trip.
heisenbit 9y ago
One of the problems is having enough safety margin for energy storage. When a car runs out of power there is a shoulder to cry on nearby. With a ship adrift things can get ugly in no time.
- Robotbeat 9y ago
  With a ferry, you have a short route and a need for a fast recharge time. For longevity reasons, then, it is better to therefore use at least double the battery capacity as you think you need for a nominal trip and only use the middle capacity of the battery. That does two things: 1) Increases the life of the battery non-linearly. If you use half of the battery capacity in this way, your cycle life doesn't merely double. It may triple or quadruple. That saves a lot over the long run. In fact, if you're doing (say) 10 charge cycles a day, you might want to install an even larger than double capacity battery. 2) It means that you always have a very large emergency reserve. Slow speed also increases efficiency. Those two combined provide a very healthy margin.
- Broken_Hippo 9y ago
  One of the great things is that the world has already dealt with this problem much the same way we've dealt with cars breaking down on the road and trains breaking down on the tracks: We can tow them away. In addition, it doesn't seem like a large hurdle to design ships designed to recharge another ship's battery similar to how we can design refueling ships.
jnsaff2 9y ago
Let’s not forget that battery powered ships (in the form of diesel-electric submarines during the world wars) have been around for a long time.
- digi_owl 9y ago
  Interestingly they may be on their last leg. Since Sweden first introduced them more and more nations seem to be switching to Sterling engines for submerged operations. While clearly they can't match nuclear powered sub, they seem capable of staying down for far longer than the old diesel-electrics.
pi-rat 9y ago
Norway, with it's many fjords and ferries has a long tradition for ferry foods. Along the (mid) western coast taking a ferry without eating a svele[1] (looks similar to an american pancake) is pretty much unthinkable :) This type of food is usually cooked and served fresh on the ferries. I live near the Ampere ferry pictured in the article. And one interesting side-effect of electrification is that they don't have enough power to spare for a full kitchen (with griddles, etc)[2]. Now they have to sell ready-made sveler instead of cooking them on the spot and serving them fresh[3]. Electric ferries are essentially killing "norwegian ferry food culture" to much despair for svele loving passengers :P [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svele https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svele [2]: https://www.nrk.no/sognogfjordane/droppar-kiosken-pa-batteriferja-1.11761283 https://www.nrk.no/sognogfjordane/droppar-kiosken-pa-batteri... (article is in nynorsk ("new-norwegian") and google translate is basically useless) [3]: https://www.nrk.no/sognogfjordane/no-er-den-forste-el-ferja-i-drift-pa-anda-lote-1.13882041 https://www.nrk.no/sognogfjordane/no-er-den-forste-el-ferja-...
- LeifCarrotson 9y ago
  That's surprising! A griddle does take a fair bit of power, but aren't these griddles usually heated with natural gas or propane? I know that some use electric heat - a quick search suggests up to 10 kW for a decent-sized commercial unit - but it seems more likely that they opted to increase the efficiency of the ferry and make it cheaper by removing the kitchen than that it was an unsolvable conundrum.
  - pi-rat 9y ago
    Indeed, defiantly solvable! I'm guessing they're playing it safe and reducing risk where they can for the first generations of electric ferries. And it's probably much cheaper for the company to sell food from a vending machine than having a full kitchen onboard, so they might be using lack of power as an excuse. However, there really isn't that much tradition for gas powered cooking in Norway (other than "BBQ"), almost everything is electric and power is really cheap. Many of our other newer generation ferries are LNG powered, which probably comes with tons of strict rules for open flames on board. Might just be they've inherited some safety regulations for the electric ones as well.
zombieprocesses 9y ago
Battery powered ships to transport all the oil they are selling?

176 points by zerogvt 9y ago

Missing from the article: - Battery capacity: 1MWh [1] - Charging power: 6MW (assuming they charge the full battery in the 10 minutes mentioned in the article) Unfortunately, I cannot find the article, but I believe I once read that charging the batteries that quickly caused problems with power grid stability, so they had "auxiliary batteries" at the ports that they charged with lower power, and then transferred the energy from those batteries to the ship batteries with high power, which effectively tripled the battery cost. [EDIT: the issue is actually mentioned in article [1], where they have two 410kWh shore charging stations] [1] http://corvusenergy.com/marine-project/mf-ampere-ferry/ http://corvusenergy.com/marine-project/mf-ampere-ferry/

Robotbeat 9y ago
Depends. They can offset the cost of the stationary buffering batteries by using cheaper time of use electricity. I believe that's what Tesla does (when they can) with Superchargers. ...and this is /part/ of the reason why 7 cents per kWh for their Tesla Semi Megachargers isn't completely bonkers...
- toomuchtodo 9y ago
  Tesla uses batteries at supercharger to avoid demand charges from spikes in power demand when vehicles are charging (load shaving).
clort 9y ago
They don't need to charge the full battery in 10 minutes, since they didn't fully discharge it in the previous 20 minutes of cruising.. The article didn't say how long the service could be sustained without any charge but if the battery can be topped up at intervals so that the ferry can keep running all day until it recharges fully overnight then that would be a good result. Also there will be margin built in because it costs a lot more if you have to replace the batteries when they fall to 95% of the original capacity rather than 80% or less.

dougmany 9y ago

from a separate article: http://corvusenergy.com/marine-project/mf-ampere-ferry/ http://corvusenergy.com/marine-project/mf-ampere-ferry/ >Rather than installing additional electrical capacity to the ports, an onshore Corvus Energy 410kWh ESS comprised of 63 AT6500 Liquid-Cooled modules was installed on both sides of the route, each providing near instantaneous transfer of power to the vessel ESS.

draggnar 9y ago
That's a fantastic idea.
- mschuster91 9y ago
  And it could be used in a smart grid environment to provide a stabilization power... after all, it's known when a ship will be needing the power (divide the distance by the top speed and the ship physically cannot arrive earlier), and so as long as it is ensured that the battery is topped up when the ship arrives for a recharge, the capacity can be used for grid stabilization.
  - zeristor 9y ago
    I imagine when batteries are more prevalent there will be far more competition in providing grid stabilisation services. A second order affect I imagine, once there are scores of other systems available locally.

corradio 9y ago

Let's also remember it matters where the electricity comes from. You're not necessarily going green if you use coal-based electricity. Source: https://www.electricitymap.org https://www.electricitymap.org

Diederich 9y ago
> You're not necessarily going green if you use coal-based electricity. Agreed. At the same time, moving from direct use of fossil fuels to even indirect use of fossil fuels via electricity is a real move that at a minimum facilitates future sustainability.
- geofftrojans 9y ago
  Exactly. Theoretically, it is much easier to improve efficiency and reduce emissions if power generation is consolidated in one place.
Robotbeat 9y ago
In the US, coal electricity is now just 30% of the grid, compared to 32% for other fossil fuels (almost all natural gas), and actually 38% for emissions-free (half of that is nuclear and the other half a mix of wind, hydro, solar, and geothermal roughly in that order). That means the US CO2 emissions per kWh are significantly better than Germany, by the way. And beware of old data. Even a couple years makes a difference. From 2014 to 2017, CO2 emitted per kWh has dropped by 13%. (My figures mostly come from here, which has up to date info through December 2017: https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.php?t=epmt_1_01 https://www.eia.gov/electricity/monthly/epm_table_grapher.ph... along with calculations for emissions per kWh based on efficiency and CO2 per heat unit for a given fuel source.)
- somecallitblues 9y ago
  “That means the US CO2 emissions per kWh are significantly better than Germany, by the way." what? Where did you get that from?

fulafel 9y ago

How much CO2 per kWh does it come to when you divide the total CO2 footprint of the battery manufacture and materials over the charge cycles of the battery? edit: One study[1] indicates the figures are 150-200 kg CO2 equivalent per 1 kWh of battery. So for 1000 cycle durability, that would make 150-200 g per kWh even without counting the CO2 effects of charging power[2]. Diesel engines emit 250 g per kWh[3] of energy produced. Doesn't sound like such a great tradeoff. [1] http://www.ivl.se/download/18.5922281715bdaebede9559/1496046218976/C243+The+life+cycle+energy+consumption+and+CO2+emissions+from+lithium+ion+batteries+.pdf http://www.ivl.se/download/18.5922281715bdaebede9559/1496046... [2] Even if Norway produces low emission hydro electricity, the same electricity could be used to displace dirty power if exported to Denmark etc. [3] https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/co2-emission-fuels-d_1085.html https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/co2-emission-fuels-d_1085...

nine_k 9y ago
You can charge batteries using hydro power. You can't (economically) produce hydrocarbon fuel using it, though.
- fulafel 9y ago
  Yes, I addressed this in the comment's [2] footnote.
durkie 9y ago
From your [1] study: "The largest part of the energy use in the production of lithium-ion batteries comes from electricity use." Converting ships to batteries allows them to become cleaner as the grid becomes cleaner.
- fulafel 9y ago
  It expands: "The largest part of the emissions, around 50%, is currently from battery (including cell) manufacturing, but if the material processing to battery grade is viewed as one total it is in the same order of magnitude." So one half is amenable to improvements if the manufacturing transitions to clearn electricity. But this is not likely to happen in a big way anytime soon, because the manufacturing happens in coal-heavy Asian countries: https://www.statista.com/statistics/235323/lithium-batteries-top-manufacturers/ https://www.statista.com/statistics/235323/lithium-batteries...

spodek 9y ago

The best way to reduce emissions is to reduce consumption. Let's help the process by buying less stuff to reduce the number of ships. We'll produce less litter and pollution too.

narag 9y ago
The best often diverges from the good. Ad absurdum: if we get extinct, we'll produce less litter and pollution.
- digi_owl 9y ago
  "Perfect is the enemy of good"?
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

bjourne 9y ago

How come sails aren't making a comeback? Seems like an ideal complement to electric ships. Use the wind to recharge the batteries using generators or to propel the ship forward. When there is no wind, run on the energy stored in the batteries.

WhompingWindows 9y ago
Sails don't collect nearly enough energy to move a ferry which is capable of moving hundreds of people and over 100 cars. What do you mean by recharging batteries using generators and using wind? If you mean turbines, keep in mind most turbines are hundreds of feet tall and their blades are extremely long. Overall, wind turbine technology is far, far too large for ships to utilize.
jalayir 9y ago
The decks are stacked up with containers. No room for sails
- digi_owl 9y ago
  Kinda. I recall reading about one suggestion for using high altitude "kites", and i could have sworn i have also seen one where the sails would be more similar to what you find on a Junk. In both instances the operations would be largely computer controlled, and reserved for the open seas.
CodeCube 9y ago
This is in the works ... not to recharge the batteries, but literally as an assist to the existing engines: https://www.iims.org.uk/quadriga-set-become-worlds-biggest-sailing-cargo-ship/ https://www.iims.org.uk/quadriga-set-become-worlds-biggest-s... edit: I can't find it offhand, but remember also seeing a video of a startup in SF, that's experimenting with an innovative sail system for the purpose of outfitting on ferries. These sails look more like vertical wings than the usual sail (which on many points of sail is actually a vertical wing) ... and the "flight controller" would basically trim them via rotation to the ideal position when they can eke out any knots to help them preserve diesel. And if they get caught in a squall, they simple head the sails into the wind to reduce windage. So it should be a very safe system to reduce the ferry system's usage of fossil fuels. Looked like a really interesting idea.

0xFFC 9y ago

As someone who doesn’t know anything about batteries, I have some questions about lithium. 1) Do we have lithium shortage? 2) When do we expect to have lithium shortage? 3) Do we have any alternative technology for batteries? 4) How green is lithium in the environment? 5) Is lithium recyclable? 6) What is the future for batteries? Sorry, I asked a lot of questions.

nico_h 9y ago
1) no 2) Don't know (maybe extraction shortage but not absolute shortage) 3) Aluminium air "batteries", Lithium Ion Graphene battery, solid state, flow battery ... 4) not super green 5) yes 6) different technologies for different applications
- MertsA 9y ago
  Aren't there pretty big unsolved problems with recharging Aluminum air batteries?
maxerickson 9y ago
Sodium ion batteries are on the cusp of commercialization. But lithium ion is getting cheaper faster, so there isn't a lot of investment.

gjem97 9y ago

> For now, electric ships make most sense in populated waterfront areas where they can be recharged easily and improve air quality and noise pollution And probably requires a duty cycle that can afford sitting at a dock for hours a day to recharge, right? So passenger ferries (that typically don't run 24-hours a day)?

skykooler 9y ago
It spends ten minutes at the dock charging on each trip.

heisenbit 9y ago

One of the problems is having enough safety margin for energy storage. When a car runs out of power there is a shoulder to cry on nearby. With a ship adrift things can get ugly in no time.

Robotbeat 9y ago
With a ferry, you have a short route and a need for a fast recharge time. For longevity reasons, then, it is better to therefore use at least double the battery capacity as you think you need for a nominal trip and only use the middle capacity of the battery. That does two things: 1) Increases the life of the battery non-linearly. If you use half of the battery capacity in this way, your cycle life doesn't merely double. It may triple or quadruple. That saves a lot over the long run. In fact, if you're doing (say) 10 charge cycles a day, you might want to install an even larger than double capacity battery. 2) It means that you always have a very large emergency reserve. Slow speed also increases efficiency. Those two combined provide a very healthy margin.
Broken_Hippo 9y ago
One of the great things is that the world has already dealt with this problem much the same way we've dealt with cars breaking down on the road and trains breaking down on the tracks: We can tow them away. In addition, it doesn't seem like a large hurdle to design ships designed to recharge another ship's battery similar to how we can design refueling ships.

jnsaff2 9y ago

Let’s not forget that battery powered ships (in the form of diesel-electric submarines during the world wars) have been around for a long time.

digi_owl 9y ago
Interestingly they may be on their last leg. Since Sweden first introduced them more and more nations seem to be switching to Sterling engines for submerged operations. While clearly they can't match nuclear powered sub, they seem capable of staying down for far longer than the old diesel-electrics.

pi-rat 9y ago

Norway, with it's many fjords and ferries has a long tradition for ferry foods. Along the (mid) western coast taking a ferry without eating a svele[1] (looks similar to an american pancake) is pretty much unthinkable :) This type of food is usually cooked and served fresh on the ferries. I live near the Ampere ferry pictured in the article. And one interesting side-effect of electrification is that they don't have enough power to spare for a full kitchen (with griddles, etc)[2]. Now they have to sell ready-made sveler instead of cooking them on the spot and serving them fresh[3]. Electric ferries are essentially killing "norwegian ferry food culture" to much despair for svele loving passengers :P [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svele https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Svele [2]: https://www.nrk.no/sognogfjordane/droppar-kiosken-pa-batteriferja-1.11761283 https://www.nrk.no/sognogfjordane/droppar-kiosken-pa-batteri... (article is in nynorsk ("new-norwegian") and google translate is basically useless) [3]: https://www.nrk.no/sognogfjordane/no-er-den-forste-el-ferja-i-drift-pa-anda-lote-1.13882041 https://www.nrk.no/sognogfjordane/no-er-den-forste-el-ferja-...

LeifCarrotson 9y ago
That's surprising! A griddle does take a fair bit of power, but aren't these griddles usually heated with natural gas or propane? I know that some use electric heat - a quick search suggests up to 10 kW for a decent-sized commercial unit - but it seems more likely that they opted to increase the efficiency of the ferry and make it cheaper by removing the kitchen than that it was an unsolvable conundrum.
- pi-rat 9y ago
  Indeed, defiantly solvable! I'm guessing they're playing it safe and reducing risk where they can for the first generations of electric ferries. And it's probably much cheaper for the company to sell food from a vending machine than having a full kitchen onboard, so they might be using lack of power as an excuse. However, there really isn't that much tradition for gas powered cooking in Norway (other than "BBQ"), almost everything is electric and power is really cheap. Many of our other newer generation ferries are LNG powered, which probably comes with tons of strict rules for open flames on board. Might just be they've inherited some safety regulations for the electric ones as well.

zombieprocesses 9y ago

Battery powered ships to transport all the oil they are selling?