The Hybridisation of power-train of ships: Principles and State of the Art Report

Since the rising of concerns on CO2 emissions and the media-related launch of the Toyota Prius and other hybrid cars in Europe, hybrid power trains have held an unexpected notoriety. Waterborne Vehicles Researches based upon electric, solar and thermal hybrid power trains show that, even if hybrid systems do already exist, a few companies propose viable and commercial solutions. Most of the considered solutions are indeed in a “project” state with lot of improvements still to be done. Indeed, years after the first experiments with hybrid-electric power train ships, none has been fielded yet. But as the passenger waterborne transport industry increasingly is compelled to lower fuel consumption and improve the overall performance, a consensus is emerging that hybrid engines may be the way to go. A number of existing electric-hybrid powered ships already has been testing at full-scale. However, most operators’ position is that it does not want to be a proverbial guinea pig for unproven technologies and are hesitant to commit to a production contract until the commercial industry begins mass-producing hybrid-electric power train for passenger shuttles. This paper presents the basic principles and a state of the art of some of the major achievements in this technology