Page 37 - Damen Shipyards Group

36 SUSTAINABILITY SPECIAL CHARGING PIN TRANSFORMER IN THE WORKS 37
At the point at which construction of the fi ve vessels was
almost ready to begin, a change in requirements was
announced. Movia wanted to extend its ferry route by an
additional four stops, increasing the length of the route
by roughly 50% and taking the ferries into Copenhagen’s
AUTO-MOORING port area,” explains sales manager Martin. As part of the
SYSTEM
expansion, two additional vessels were requested from
Damen.

The route extension signifi cantly impacted the scope of the
project, affecting the duration of each route, the power
demands on each vessel, and the charging facilities installed
to supply that power. We investigated ten scenarios for a fully-
integrated solution to the route extension, ultimately deciding
the project expansion required an innovative charging solution
to be installed at the port area terminal,” Martin states.

Stronger weather conditions, producing a larger wave impact
in the port area, affects movement of the ferries at the jetty,
which must therefore be secured in order to access the
charging system. Damen’s solution to this challenge was to
develop an auto-mooring system that controls the motion
of the vessel and secures it to the jetty as its batteries are
charging. This solution largely increases the safety around the
integral system.

The auto-mooring system was designed and engineered
in collaboration with Damen’s Winch Department. The
development of this mechanical system required the
measurement of wave dynamics and calculation of the forces
POWERING UP As the vessels dock bow-fi rst, During development of the charging solution, involved in vessel turbulence in order to produce a secure
The charging and operation of the engineers realised a drive-on engineers used a hardware in the loop (HIL) mechanism. With no pre-existing solution available on the
ferries is a total integrated solution charging system would much better process to run tests on how it would perform in market, the bespoke system was developed in-house by
provided by Damen. In the earlier suit the vessels than a connection operation under various conditions. Damen and is currently being adapted for use in similar
operation under various conditions.
stages of the project, Damen acted lowered from above. In a new system electrical propulsion projects with future clients.
as a consultant for a full ship and developed in-house, Damen installed The team then used software to construct a
The team then used software to construct a
shore solution to the ferry service, a charging point in the bow of the digital model of the vessel, and conducted test In addition to the vessel security, Damen adapted the
digital model of the vessel, and conducted test
considering the requirements of the vessel and created an automated runs on the computer in order to tailor battery charging process to cope with the higher demands of an
runs on the computer in order to tailor battery
management software that keeps track of charge
project and proposing a balanced charging system based on the jetty management software that keeps track of charge extended route. Damen increased the battery charging
and release performance.
solution to meet each of the criteria. and connected to the on-shore power and release performance. capacity from 450kW to 600kW per charger, to supply each
Damen Civil was able to analyse the source. In this system, the vessel can vessel with the power it needs to complete the route –
physical capabilities and limitations drive onto the charging pin bow-fi rst, including in the case of one charging point being temporarily
of Copenhagen’s jetty route in order automated fast-charging replenishes disabled – accounting for further redundancy in the system.
to determine the optimal solution for the battery power in around seven REDUNDANT AUTOMATED
the project. minutes, and the vessel is then able SWITCHBOARDS CHARGING SYSTEM Damen will deliver the fi rst fi ve vessels according to contract, and
to reverse straight off the pin and the two additional vessels will be ready for delivery in May 2020.
begin its route. The charging point system is close to completion, and Damen
looks forward to the beginning of its operation. Proud of the
interdepartmental collaboration displayed throughout, Damen
regards this project as an excellent showcase of its engineers’
entrepreneurial capacity and vision. “Based on large-scale,
complex projects such as this, the development of Damen’s
role beyond that of a shipbuilder towards that of a full solution
integrator goes from strength to strength,” Martin concludes.

LOOKING BACK TO THE FUTURE
BOW THRUSTER To enable operators to track and analyse the
performance of this complex system in action, Damen
can install remote monitoring capabilities on all of the
CONTROL AT vessels, informed by a network of on-board sensors.
WHEELHOUSE
CONSOLE Damen’s Remote Monitoring Department is able to
set up personalised dashboards for every employee,
tracking a variety of factors from battery lifecycle to
sailing patterns to swell dynamics. Through access to
LITHIUM BATTERY SYSTEM
this data, clients can track the performance of their
vessels. Similarly, Damen is able to use this remote
monitoring capability to identify potential areas for
PROVEN SHAFT LINE DESIGN improvement and use the data to inform future projects.