VARD's Ocean Charger won the Vessel Charging Innovation of the Year
We are delighted to announce that our member, Vard Electro’s Ocean Charger concept has the won the Vessel Charging Innovation of the Year Award at this years Electric & Hybrid Marine Expo Europe.
Øystein Longva, Chief Technology Officer in Vard Electro and former MBF board member received the award on behalf of VARD and its partners.
This year’s Electric & Hybrid Marine Awards, held at RAI Amsterdam during Electric & Hybrid Marine Expo Europe, featured an expanded array of categories to recognize the scope of innovation and achievement across the maritime sector over the last 12 months. Now comprising nine categories, the Electric & Hybrid Marine Awards were 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 Ocean Charger Concept was officially launched in February this year with a gathering of all involved partners in Ålesund, Norway. Now, with a strong consortium of industry and research partners, VARD will lead the way from research to testing, validation, and commercialization of new technological solutions for energy transfer to battery-powered ships offshore.
The work will be performed over three years. Vard Design will lead the work together with sister companies Seaonics and Vard Electro, partners Rem Offshore, Solstad Offshore, SINTEF Energi, SINTEF Ocean, DigiCat, Sustainable Energy, Equinor, Source Galileo Norge, Corvus Energy, Plug, Shoreline, Sustainable Energy, University of Bergen, Norce and Maritime CleanTech.
“We are very grateful and motivated by this award, and it pushes us to continue our efforts towards zero-emission vessel operations. For us it is also a confirmation from the industry and the market that this solution is a key piece in the green transition for ship operations, and a vital part of our ZeroClass strategy.”
In December 2022, the Ocean Charger Concept was awarded 38 million NOK through the Norwegian Government's support scheme The Green Platform Initiative. The Norwegian Minister of Trade, Industry and Fisheries, Jan Christian Vestre, launched the new project at a press conference in Oslo: "We are carrying out the largest restructuring of the Norwegian economy ever. Everything will become greener. It is private companies that must lead the way in this transformation, with the public sector as a supporter," Vestre said.
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.
By connecting vessels to the power grid in the wind farm and charging batteries regularly, the operational availability of emission-free vessel operations will be secured. The aim is to power operations at the field without using any additional energy sources.