Incat Tasmania is leading the world in producing pure-electric lightweight zero-emission ferries.
Australian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania has under construction the largest lightweight battery electric ship (130 m in length) so far constructed in the world for delivery to its South American customer, Buquebus.
This ship, the world’s largest battery-electric Ro-Pax ferry, will be 100% battery electric. The energy storage system (ESS) battery storage at over 40MWh will be four times larger than any battery installation that has been constructed and installed anywhere in the world for the marine transport environment. The batteries power a series of E-motors which drive the water jet propulsion system. The electrical system integration is by Wärtsilä and ESS by Corvus Energy.
The interest in these battery electric ships is very positive and Incat is now working toward the construction of its second but smaller battery-electric vehicle/passenger ferry.
Incat Founder Robert Clifford said,
“We are proud to be building in Tasmania this first in class ship for Buquebus who like us share a vision to be at the leading edge of low emission shipping in the world. Incat has always been an innovator and once again we are leading the world and the world is taking notice.
This worldwide interest in Incat’s capabilities to deliver electric ships is a great opportunity for Tasmania and we expect this interest to magnify.
We are already increasing our workforce and have just finalised plans for the recruitment of at least another 200 employees over the next 12 months with the expectation that our workforce will more than double in coming years”.
Incat Managing Director Craig Clifford said,
“The build of the Buquebus ship is leading the world in this type of ship construction and will have leading edge technology in terms of zero emissions propulsion and storage systems. Once in operation the shore-side charging systems will have 50% more capacity than any current installation world-wide.
The world first Incat Hull 096 will have a capacity for 2100 passengers and crew, 225 cars and will also include a Duty Free Shop of over 2000 square metres on the one level.”
Craig Clifford continued: “The feedback from overseas has been extraordinarily positive I expect that we are going to see many more battery electric ships built here at Incat in Tasmania.
The opportunities for jobs and investment here in Tasmania are exceptional.
The Australian Federal Government has a clear plan for decarbonising the economy and with 100% renewable energy and already net zero emissions having been achieved here in Tasmania we are ideally placed to build zero emission ships for the world right here.
In fact due to Tasmania already having achieved overall net zero emissions we are the only location on the planet that is able to construct zero-emission, battery electric ships in an already net zero emissions environment for our customers”.
For further information on the 130-metre vessel: https://incat.com.au/incat-vessels/096/
Incat Tasmania Pty Ltd
Incat’s strength as a world-leading builder of lightweight vessels positions the company to lead the electric revolution. Constructing in marine grade aluminium means the ships are lighter than an equivalent size steel ship, hence require far less power for propulsion. The energy level can be utilised for greater range at slower speeds or for higher speed on shorter routes.
Aluminium is lightweight without sacrificing strength, it’s one third the weight of steel, however after design factors the finished weight of an INCAT aluminium ship will be around HALF that of steel.
Incat is currently 100% export focused, the 130-metre ferry will operate in Argentina, large Ro-Pax vessels up to 112 metres length operate in waters around Europe, the UK, Asia and South America.
In Australia Incat ferries built as early as the 1980’s can still be found operating off the Queensland coast, there are two passenger craft with Port Philip Ferries, and eleven on Sydney Harbour however none of the large vehicle/passenger ferries operate in Australian waters.
The shipyard located on Hobart’s Derwent River has undercover building halls to accommodate several vessels under construction simultaneously.
Media enquiries – Incat Tasmania Pty Ltd – +61 3 62 711 333 incat@incat.com.au
Or – Media enquiries outside Australian office hours:
Judy Benson: E: jbenson@incat.com.au M: +61 418 335 299 www.incat.com.au
Wärtsilä https://www.wartsila.com/media/news-releases
Corvus Energy https://corvusenergy.com/news/
