An electromagnetic ‘plug-and-play’ charging technology will allow electric vessels to charge offshore without direct physical connections.
Currently, battery-powered offshore vessels rely on charging infrastructure located at ports, limiting how far they can travel between charges.
It would make sense if electric service operation vessels (SOVs), such as those used to maintain offshore wind farms, could tap into the electricity directly generated from wind turbines. However, using plug-based connections in harsh, salty waters is very challenging.
To address these challenges, Norwegian shipbuilding company Vard launched the Ocean Charger project to develop and test offshore charging technologies. One of its key research partners is SINTEF, a Norwegian independent research institute.
Giuseppe Guidi, a senior research scientist at SINTEF, said: “We’ve looked at a lot of solutions here, and we’ve tested a possible solution that works almost like a regular electrical contact. But we can avoid...