The times of smoke spewing ferries could finally come to an end. Earlier this year, the first all-electric ferry was taken into service in Norway. Equipped with a battery pack worth 1600 car batteries, the ferry makes a journey of about twenty minutes crossing the Sognefjord in Norway. It can carry up to 120 cars and 300 passengers. At each pier, a battery pack is installed to recharge the ferry when docked. It takes only ten minutes to charge up for the trip back, which is done during unloading and loading of the ship. The batteries are charged with hydro power, making the operation of the ferry 100% renewable and emission free. Its operation will annually cut down the use of one million litres of diesel and reduce 570 tons of carbon dioxide and 15 tons of NOx emissions in comparison to conventional ferries operating on the same route. The new vessel is a pilot project to test the viability of operating fully electrically-powered ferries in about 50 ferry routes within Norway and beyond.
The Zerocast 120 is a battery powered ferry which crosses the Sognefjord in Norway since the beginning of 2015
Sources
