Joint project on renewable energy

It said the project was a major step forward in making shipping more sustainable through the use of renewable energy and fuel-reduction measures.
The project will test a number of innovative solutions developed by EMP and its strategic partners on board the Blue Star Delos, a modern high-speed passenger and car ferry owned and operated by Blue Star Ferries, part of the Attica Group.
EMP said the Blue Star Delos and its sister vessel Patmos already incorporated cutting-edge sustainable vessel technology, being the first vessels in the Mediterranean region to use the hybrid shaft generator system, a sophisticated active front-end frequency converter system enabling constant connection of the shaft generators to the ships’ grid, which improves the power factor and lowers NOx emissions. In addition, HVAC and engine room ventilation use a frequency converted load-dependent management system, which also lowers fuel consumption and reduces NOx emissions further.
During the initial stages of the project – and in a world first aboard a ship, according to EMP – a marine solar power system using flexible, lightweight marine-grade panels from Italy's Solbian Energie Alternative will be integrated with the Aquarius MAS, and real-time performance monitoring of the solar power array will be conducted, EMP said. The vessel's fuel oil consumption will also be logged and emissions data calculated using the Aquarius MAS.
The Aquarius MAS is an alarm-handling, performance-monitoring and data-logging platform that includes features to monitor fuel oil consumption, calculate emissions and monitor marine renewable energy solutions. It has been specifically developed by EMP and KEI System Ltd of Osaka, Japan, to allow renewable energy systems to be integrated into a common platform that can also be used to monitor other systems on ships such as main engines, generators and pumps.
Blue Star Ferries' own technical team will supervise the project while EMP will provide project management, technical consulting services and – along with various strategic partners – equipment.