Maersk, in collaboration with Trident Maritime Systems, has developed a 600 kWh container battery that can be installed on container ships. The first will be installed on the container ship Maersk Cape Town.
The container ship Cape Town, built in 2011, flies the Singapore flag and carries cargo between West Africa and East Asia. The battery will be installed on the ship in December 2019 and the first voyage with the new technology will take place in early 2020. The battery module is designed to fit into a cargo container and can be loaded at the port. The ship's generator and the waste heat system on board most Maersk ships can also be used for charging. The latter charges the battery using heat released from the ship's engines.
Multipurpose
The battery itself will be used in several ways to reduce emissions and efficiency. It takes over part of generator load, reducing the need to run it. In addition, the battery will be used to increase power during peak loads and reduce generator use at times when there is less load. In this way, power consumption is more even which reduces the need to run generator. It will also reduce maintenance costs for the generator simply because it is used less. The battery can supply up to 1,800 kVA when needed. This also makes it useful as a back-up when the generator is not working or needs to be switched off.
CO2-neutral future
The experiment aboard the Cape Town provides Maersk with information on the future deployment of such battery modules as part of the further electrification of Maersk's fleet and port terminals. Maersk continues to continuously test and develop environmentally friendly solutions to becarbon neutral by 2050.
