Project details
Grotte is Fanølinjen's electric ferry sailing between Esbjerg and Fanø. The new electric ferry will provide a sustainable means of transportation connecting the Danish coastal town of Esbjerg with the Fanø island off the coast of southwestern Denmark. The electric ferry is part of a broader sustainability agenda, aiming at decarbonising some of the most important travel corridors in the country.
Grotte is propelled by two electrical propulsion motors and charges automatically when docked in the harbour in Esbjerg. Grotte complements the two existing ferries on the Fanø route, Fenja and Menja, enabling a three-ferry operation and creating additional capacity on the route that carries 1.8 million passengers annually.
Client
Fanølinjen
Category
Passenger ferry - RoPax
Year
2021
Disciplines
Energy optimisation, operational profile, basic design
Contact person
Ulrik Rueskov Tander
Our approach
Our team always approaches ship design as a dynamic process. We call it a design spiral, where we develop the finished ship in close dialogue with the customer. The design spiral often continues until the shipyard starts building the ship.
The electric motor takes up considerably less space than a diesel engine would. However, the batteries require fire protection and cooling, which is facilitated by water cooling via the bottom of the ship. The engine room on M/F Grotte is almost sterile compared to a diesel-powered ship, where soot and particles are spread when the liquid fuel is burned.
In advance, our engineers have made all the necessary calculations, considering both the safety and efficient propulsion of the ship.
The result
Our team always seeks to create sustainable and innovative solutions for our clients to reduce their carbon footprint. Electrification is part of the solution, and with this project, we play an important part in putting in place the next generation of sustainable ferries for Denmark’s wider transportation infrastructure network.
Ferry travel in Denmark is still largely based on fossil fuels, but M/F Grotte and a small handful of electrically powered ferries (as well as some hybrid ferries) must now lead the way to the future of green ferries and shipping in Denmark.
