Energy transition project gets EU funding to retrofit ships with wind-solar technologies

Horizon Europe, the EU’s funding programme for research, has granted funds worth $9.8 million to a project that aims to reduce emissions from long-distance shipping voyages.

PHOTO: A vessel retrofitted with AYRO’s wind-assist system. AYRO

French naval machinery company AYRO, which is part of the project that comprises 14 partners, says that the project partners intend to retrofit ships with wind-solar hybrid power systems and wingsail technology to assist in propulsion.

A wind-solar hybrid power system uses wind and solar power together as a source of energy and propulsion. Wingsail is an aerodynamic structure fitted on a vessel to aid propulsion.

The project aims to showcase fuel savings of 30% on a retrofit bulk carrier and more than 15% on a retrofit containership, AYRO adds.

The other partners in the project comprise Verkis, Sidewind, Solbian, CANOE, Ant Topic, Dotcom, Samskip, Nav-Tech, Stirling Design International, BBA/Fjeldco, Lloyds Register, Athyg li and Inspiralia .

AYRO’s chairman and co-founder Marc Van Peteghem sees the project "as a catalyst for retrofitting the commercial vessels with breakthrough green technologies” considering “the current context of fuel price volatility and the increasingly stringent environmental regulations with the implementation of the Carbon Intensity Indicator (CII) this year for the maritime industry.”

By Tuhin Roy

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