• Deal will see containerised battery installed on Firda Seafood Group vessel at Norse Shipyard Group in Turkey
• Companies say containerised battery power will be one of the maritime industry’s biggest innovations in the next decade
• Containerised batteries can drive green propulsion revolution in workboat, offshore, inland waterways and short sea shipping sectors
• Containerised batteries can be installed easily on deck without taking space below deck and incurring complex battery room safety requirements
• Innovation supports research by Foreship which estimates swappable electric batteries can be installed on up to 6000 inland vessels in the EU alone cutting around 482,000 metric tonnes of CO2 equivalents from water transport emissions in Europe each year. (Foreship Technical Review Leads Ship Battery Power Inland (maritime-executive.com)_

Norwegian aquaculture technology supplier, Fjord Maritime, has won a new contract to convert an oil platform supply vessel to a containerised battery powered live fish carrier.

Fjord Maritime has struck the deal in partnership with Andorra based marine battery maker AYK Energy. AYK has developed a special containerised battery solution for the vessel which is owned by the Firda Seafood Group, which is also based in Norway.

The DNV Class approved 1MWh Energy Storage Solution (ESS) will be fitted into a standard sized 20ft container along with Fjord Maritime’s Fjord Hybrid solution. The container is further equipped with all necessary safety and auxiliary systems.

Once the conversion is completed at NORSE Shipyard in Turkey, the vessel will be operated by Firda Seafood Group, the leading producer of fjord trout in western Norway.

Vidar Rabben, Chief Executive Officer at Fjord Maritime, which is headquartered in Bergen and has a UK office in Fort William, said: “As a business we are growing rapidly led by our vision of ‘Driving the Green Revolution’. We have long-term relationship with Firda, which has put sustainability and fish welfare at the heart of all its operations.The demand for state-of-the-art equipment is growing across aquaculture as business like Firda look to grow in a sustainable and safe way. Our solutions contribute to that with increased efficiency, safe operation, and reduced emissions.”

Ed Carney, global sales director at AYK Energy, says the project underlines the company’s position as emerging manufacturers of safe, sustainable and high-quality marine battery systems.

He said: “AYK has created what we consider to be the best containerised battery solution in the maritime industry.  Containerised batteries will be one of the biggest innovations in the maritime industry in the next five to 10 years specifically for the workboat, offshore, inland waterways and short sea shipping sector. The AYK containerised battery is safe, highly efficient and competitively priced.

“Containerised batteries have multiple benefits. They can be installed easily on deck without taking space below deck and incurring complex battery room safety requirements. Furthermore, the retrofit process is simple and does not require the vessel to be out of service for very long. When operational the batteries can also then be swopped around with fully charged replacements quickly at shore side charging centres. In addition, the containerised power solution is future proof. When a new more powerful battery technology is developed, or a different form of power is introduced, the container can be adapted for that purpose.”

Mr Rabben added: “We are delighted to be collaborating with AYK Energy and we see a bright future for our relationship. Together with high-end quality, competence, and a new standard of service-level that AYK provides, we are confident that we will work together to deliver a large number of projects in the coming years.”

Fjord Maritime is a leading provider of smart grid energy solutions for the aquaculture sector. The company has a long-established position in delivering sustainable and cost effective climate technology with approximately 150 systems in operation.

AYK Energy has built and shipped over 15MWh of batteries to Europe over the last year. As its growth continues the company’s next move will be to set up manufacturing centres in the US and Europe in 2024.

AYK delivers a range battery types which can be used on a wide variety of vessel types and applications from high power to high energy.