The International Windship Association
(IWSA) says there is the potential for more than
10,000 wind-assisted vessels to be operating
within the next decade. ‘The way forward is full
of exciting opportunities,’ says IWSA secretary
general Gavin Allwright. ‘These activities follow
some of the recommendations made in the EU
report on wind propulsion market development,
which forecast up to 10,700 wind propulsion
installations on bulkers and tankers by 2030 if
the facilitation framework is in place.’
Last year, he adds, was a very significant one
for wind propulsion. ‘We could say that a perfect
storm is brewing for the uptake of primary wind,
etc and secondary renewable energy alternative
fuels/energy storage in shipping,’ he points out.
‘Policy, price, perception, providers and people
are all starting to align.’
The world fleet accounts for more than 2% of
global carbon dioxide emissions, and the
industry will have to cut this by at least half over
the next 30 years. Next year will see the sulphur
cap come into place, and the IWSA reckons the
pressure for change will intensify as convention-al
marine fuel costs increase. Retrofitting vessels
78 SUOMEN MERENKULKU J FINLANDS SJÖFART
with wind propul-sion
technology
could deliver cost
savings of between
10% to 30%, and for
newbuilds fuel bills
could be halved.
What do such
systems mean for
seafarers – extra
workload, for
instance? ‘Most of
the systems are
fully automated on
the larger vessels
and will be fully
integrated into the ship energy management
systems in the future,’ Mr Allwright says. ‘They
have weather stations onboard that help optimise
the operations and weather routing software for
voyage optimisation in the future. The installa-tion
and maintenance of the systems are fairly
straightforward.’
Shipping industry perceptions of the technol-ogy
are shifting, Mr Allwright adds, but he warns
that the recent report by the UN Intergovernmen-tal
Panel on Climate Change on the impact of a
1.5C temperature change should serve as ‘a
wake-up call to all of us, indicating we have only
12 years until we reach that seriously challenging
and potentially catastrophic benchmark’. The
study argues that a minimum of 45% CO2
reduction will be required by 2030, he points out,
‘so action is needed – deeper and faster’.
As well as the trials being undertaken on a
growing number of ships, the past few years have
seen detailed proposals being put together for
wind-powered vessels. One, which has attracted
the attention of the European Commission, is the
Ecoliner project developed by the Dutch naval
architects Dykstra. Intended as a multipurpose
cargoship, the 11,850gt vessel would build on the
company’s successful use of the DynaRig
technology on the superyachts Maltese Falcon
and Black Pearl.
In the Netherlands, the Wijnne Barends
general cargoship Lady Christina has reported
positive results from trials of an eConoWind unit
that uses the VentiFoil system, with savings of up
to 800 litres of fuel a day during early tests.
In the UK, Windship Technology is promoting
its plans for the Windship Auxiliary Sail Propul-sion
System (WASP) – claiming the use of its
fixed wing technology could cut fuel consump-tion
and emissions from bulkers and tankers by
up to 30%, and result in savings of as much as
US$3m a year on fuel costs.
Also in the UK, the Smart Green Shipping
Alliance is involved in a 12-month feasibility
study to test Fastrig sail technology on a Danish-owned
bulk carrier that imports biomass to
British power stations.
These are just a few of the projects now under
way, and Mr Allwright notes: ‘The movement in
wind propulsion tech and project solutions is
picking up pace. Our industry is a broad church
and shipping has always had highly talented
people in sometimes difficult positions, but there
is increasingly a shift to a new generation of
decision-makers that are focused on the triple
bottom line, engineers and designers producing
ever more innovative designs and customers
demanding more action on emissions from
shipping. Wind propulsion is a credible, viable
and increasingly profitable option, and the
industry is taking notice.’ •
G A UK scheme will
test sail technology
on Ultrabulk
vessels.
H A French car firm
is working with
Neoline on plans for
a wind-powered
vessel to transport
vehicles between
France and Canada.