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2. June 2020Scandlines’ hybrid ferry ‘Copenhagen’ is now equipped with a 30-meter high rotor sail from Norsepower, which is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by around four to five percent. The sail was installed at the Rostock overseas port.
(Rostock) Scandlines, a pioneer in green ferry shipping, and Norsepower Oy Ltd., one of the leading cleantech and engineering companies and a forerunner in modern wind propulsion technology, announced the successful installation of Norsepower’s rotor sail. The installation was completed within just a few hours during a planned overnight stay on board the Scandlines hybrid ferry ‘Copenhagen’.
The hybrid ferry ‘Copenhagen’, which operates between Rostock and Gedser, has been retrofitted with a rotor sail from Norsepower that stands 30 meters tall and has a diameter of five meters. After careful preparation over the past few months, the installation was carried out in just a few hours.
The Norsepower rotor sail – which can be installed on new ships as well as retrofitted onto existing vessels – is a modern version of a Flettner rotor, a rotating cylinder whose technology is based on the Magnus effect and propels the ship using wind energy. With the installation of the rotor sail, the fourth successful installation by Norsepower, CO2 emissions are expected to be reduced by four to five percent without affecting speed and travel time.
Tuomas Riski, CEO of Norsepower, commented on the installation: “We are very pleased to announce the recently completed installation of the rotor sail, which demonstrates that retrofitting can be done without lengthy interruptions or disruptions to daily operations. Scandlines has made significant strides in investing in new, clean technologies that reduce the CO2 emissions of their fleet. The addition of the Norsepower rotor sail makes the ‘Copenhagen’ one of the most energy-efficient ferries in the world.”
“With increasing international regulatory and public pressure on the maritime industry to reduce CO2 emissions, it is important for the industry to recognize the value of one of the oldest forms of propulsion – the value of wind. The market for wind propulsion is growing, and this installation illustrates how the combination of all optimization methods for ships is key to broader progress.”
Scandlines’ CEO, Søren Poulsgaard Jensen, adds: “We see tremendous value in investing in technologies aimed at reducing CO2 emissions. Collaborating with Norsepower on this innovative solution has perfectly complemented our values and goals regarding sustainable shipping. On our modern hybrid ferry, this solution will complement the hydrodynamic optimization of the hull and an electric hybrid drive with a battery-powered energy storage system, improving not only our efficiency but also our profitability. We look forward to seeing the immediate benefits of this technology.”
The rotor sail is the first certified and commercially viable auxiliary wind propulsion technology in the global maritime industry. The solution is fully automated and detects when the wind is strong enough to achieve emission savings, automatically starting the rotor sail.
About Scandlines
Scandlines symbolizes a historic and close collaboration between Germany and Denmark. Scandlines operates two high-frequency and high-capacity ferry routes with a green vision for the future.
With more than 41,500 departures across 8 ferries, Scandlines transported a total of 7.2 million passengers, 1.7 million cars, and approximately 700,000 freight units on the Puttgarden-Rødby and Rostock-Gedser routes in 2019.
The Wind Assisted Ship Propulsion project (WASP) is funded under the Interreg North Sea Europe Program, which is part of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), with EUR 5.4 million available for the project. The project brings together universities and providers of wind-assisted technology with shipping companies to explore, test, and validate the operational performance of various wind propulsion solutions. This aims to enable market penetration for wind propulsion technology, contributing to a greener North Sea transport system by utilizing the significant wind potential of the region. This fully aligns with the overarching goal of the program to promote the development and adoption of products, services, and processes to accelerate the greening of the North Sea region. Scandlines is part of the WASP project.
About Norsepower
Norsepower Oy Ltd is a Finnish cleantech and engineering company and a pioneer in modern wind propulsion technology for the global maritime industry. Norsepower’s rotor sail is a certified, low-maintenance, user-friendly, and reliable energy-saving technology that supports the reduction of CO2 emissions in the shipping industry.
Since its founding in 2012, Norsepower has generated more than EUR 20 million and has installed rotor sails on board four ships, including the latest installation on the Scandlines hybrid ferry ‘Copenhagen’. Each installation has led to significant reductions in fuel costs and emissions, confirmed by independent assessors such as ABB, NAPA, and Lloyd’s Register. Other shipping companies, charterers, and shipyards have been convinced of the benefits of rotor sail technology and are working to assess the technical and economic feasibility of wind propulsion in their fleets based on these positive results.
Photo: Scandlines / Matthias Tasler
