Maersk Supply unveils offshore charging buoys to save emissions
The charging buoy is large enough to charge SOVs or other types of hybrid-electric vessels (Source: MSS)
A.P. Moller-Maersk subsidiary, Maersk Supply Service (MSS), has launched Stillstrom – an offshore charging system to provide renewable power for idle vessels at offshore wind farms, in ports, and at other operational hubs. MSS describes Stillstrom, which means “quiet power” in Danish, as “an early-stage technology spin-out whose full-scale product launch will be the first-to-market in offshore charging, enabling idle vessels to power from clean electricity”.
The first full-scale charging buoy will be commissioned in the third quarter of this year, supplying overnight power to an Ørsted service operation vessel (SOV) at an offshore wind farm. Ørsted will be responsible for grid integration of the charging buoy, a set-up which should support the Danish energy company’s aim of becoming climate-neutral by 2025.
At this stage, the buoys are large enough to charge SOVs or other types of hybrid-electric vessels. However, Ørsted intends to scale the system and adapt it in future to provide sufficient power for ships of all sizes to turn off their engines when lying idle.
Sebastian Klasterer Toft, Venture Programme Manager at MSS, commented: “Our vision at Stillstrom is to enable maritime decarbonisation by providing the infrastructure that will allow vessels to charge from clean cnergy when idle offshore. The mission is to remove 5.5 million tonnes of CO2 within five years of commercial roll-out, additionally eliminating particulate matter, NOx and SOx.”
Stillstrom is wholly owned by MSS and has received funding support from the Danish Maritime Fund and the country’s Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP).
