WATTS UP 2023
March 8 - 9th 2023 | SS Rotterdam, The Netherlands
WATTS UP 2023
Overview of conference and accompaning events
On 8 and 9 March 2023, a total of 170 people visited the SS Rotterdam for two days of discussions on maritime battery technology, and making new connections to strengthen the maritime battery industry.
Day 1
The first day started with the Annual General Meeting of the Maritime Battery Forum members. The achievements of 2022 were shared with the members, and our strategy and plans for 2023 were presented. The focus for 2023 will be on ensuring a high quality for MBF events and activities, while growing our organization in North America and Asia. Yearly point on the agenda for the AGM was the election of new board members.
Unfortunately, chairman of the board Lars Christian Larsen (DOF), as well as board member John Olav Lindtjørn (ABB), had to leave the board after serving on it for 3 and 2 years respectively. Thank you both very much for your support and efforts in the last years! We are happy to announce that they will be replaced by Ellen Sofie Ottesen (Eidesvik) as chair of the board and Alf Kåre Ådnanes (ABB) as board member.
Day 1 Highlights
WATTS UP 2023 was then opened by the inspiring words from Marte Tyldum, Director of Sustainability at Kongsberg Maritime. As it was international women’s day, we were happy to have Marte show us that the Vikings already knew how important hybrid propulsion systems for ships, as well as women in the maritime industry are. Next up, Sverre Eriksen from DNV informed us on the coming updates on rules and regulations for battery powered ships. Here we will see a shift from a risk based approach, to a more prescriptive approach, without prohibiting innovations and new technologies. The morning ended with 5 speakers from 7 different research projects related to maritime batteries.
After lunch our brains were put to work by the consortium of the DDD Batman project, sharing their view on data-driven approaches to capacity and SOH estimation of maritime battery systems. This was followed up by Jonas Brendelberger from ZEPP Solutions. Jonas explained to us how Hydrogen fuel cells and batteries work together on Hydrogen powered vehicles. After a short coffee break, it was all about ships. First, speakers from Allseas, Kongsberg Maritime, Equinor and Carnival Maritime all showed us their solutions for applying batteries on seagoing vessels. Ranging from hybrid DP3 construction vessels, to full electric containerships and huge battery systems on cruise ships. The day ended with a visit to the hybrid training vessel ‘Ab Initio’. Thanks to the STC Group and EST-Floattech for arranging the tours on this beautiful vessel. The day ended with a dinner on board the SS Rotterdam.
After lunch we had a look into the world of charging battery powered vessels. We discussed what different considerations are for high power charging of vessels with cyclic operations. Also we talked about what comes first, charging chickens, or containerized batteries as eggs? The session was concluded by the European Onshore Power Supply Association on strategic considerations for Vessel-2-grid applications.
The last session, but definitely not the least, it was time to focus on battery recycling, insurance for battery powered ships, and WATTS NEXT for the ship owners that are on the forefront of the energy transition.
Thanks to all speakers for their contribution, and everyone attending to making it a great event! Next year, WATTS UP 2024 will be on 6 and 7 March, as always in week 10. Where it will be, is still to be determined. We will look for an innovative battery powered ship to visit, and we will let you know as soon as it is confirmed!
Day 2
The second day we had the Allyson Browne from Pacific Environment to kick off the day. Following was a session on battery cell technology developments. Cell manufacturers informed us on non-lithium batteries, heavy duty batteries, and solid-state batteries. There are some very interesting technologies under development, and we can’t wait to see these technologies powering ships.
After the coffee break it was time for the session on battery safety. There were presentations on safety and diagnostics of maritime batteries, fire fighting of electric vehicles, and training of crew on board battery powered vessels. As a surprise, we ended with a presentation by the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority on their findings of the incident on board the MF Brim Explorer in 2021. Their presentation was followed by a discussion with Corvus, the Norwegian Maritime Authority and DNV, on how this incident impacted their batteries and rules and regulations. Thank you very much for your openness.