Zero-emission ships” is a gradual development concept. Just like autonomous ships, they need to evolve from “partial” to “complete/absolute”. Here, “partial” can refer to the reduction degree of various emission indicators of a single ship, or it can be It is the order of the ship-type batches in the fleet to achieve zero emission. Regarding the “zero emission” technology, the industry is paying attention to and discussing a series of power technologies such as LNG, methanol, LPG, biomass fuel, solar energy, hydrogen, storage batteries and fuel cells. Among them, battery technology, as a completely zero-emission solution (regardless of the source of power supply), has been gradually promoted in the maritime field and has begun to take shape (mainly in Europe). It is the first to achieve zero emissions from inland and offshore vessels at this stage. The only feasible and effective means.
European battery-powered ship applications begin to take shape
At present, there are more than 50 pure electric power ships in operation in Europe, of which the largest battery capacity is 4.16MWh (lithium battery), and the smallest capacity is 0.02MWh (because it was built in 1998, it is a lead battery and has no reference value). In the true sense, the world’s first large-scale pure electric power ship “Ampere” was built by the Norwegian Fjellstrand shipyard in 2014. It has a battery capacity of 1.86MWh and a length of 80 meters. It can carry 120 cars and 360 passengers. The transportation across the Sognefjord between the two towns of Lavik and Oppedal in Norway, a total of 34 flights per day, each sailing time of 20 minutes, only 10 minutes to fill the port. In addition, the well-known autonomous sailing container ship “YARA Birkeland” is also a purely electric powered ship.
In addition to pure electric ships, some larger ships are beginning to adopt diesel-electric hybrid or LNG+electric hybrid technology to save fuel consumption and reduce exhaust emissions. For example, the Norwegian expedition cruise ship East Hurtigruten (Hurtigruten) has ordered two hybrid expedition cruise ships, which will be delivered in 2018 and 2019 respectively, in order to reduce fuel consumption by 20%. It is reported that a fiberboard twin-body lithium-ion hybrid ferry with a rated capacity of 400 passengers in Norway will cost about 140 million Norwegian kroner, or about 110 million yuan.
At present, the most used ship types for battery technology (including pure electric power and hybrid power) are ferries and cruise ships, followed by small offshore vessels and various work ships (such as tugboats). These ship types have the characteristics of fixed routes, short voyages, or low battery redundancy requirements. From an economic point of view, the use of battery hybrid ferries can save about 10%-30% of fuel costs, with a payback period of 3-5 years, while pure electric-driven ferries can save 50%-80% of fuel costs. According to an earlier research report “Electric Boats and Ships 2017-2027” released by IDTechEx in January 2017, the global pure electric and hybrid electric boat market will quickly exceed 20 billion U.S. dollars in 2027.
It is undeniable that compared with batteries, hydrogen fuel cell has many advantages such as high energy density, long cruising range, short power supply time, light weight, and large performance improvement space. It is the most ideal zero-emission solution, but from the two technologies In terms of difficulty and cost, battery technology is relatively small, production is relatively mature, and power source acquisition costs are relatively low. At the same time, the entire manufacturing industry chain is complete, and it is in the expansion stage of scale. Domestic industrial chains such as exchange membranes and bipolar plates are basically in a blank state, and manufacturing costs and hydrogen refueling station construction costs are high.
In general, ships will gradually form differentiated zero-emission technical solutions based on the size and purpose of the ship. Ferries, cruise ships, small and medium-sized expedition cruise ships, offshore and inland water transport cargo ships, offshore support vessels, fishing ground operation ships, etc. are expected to rapidly achieve substantial emissions reduction or zero emissions through battery technology. Ocean transport ships or other large ships need to rely on others Alternative fuel technology achieves zero emissions. Before 2030, battery power technology will be more mature and the market space is relatively broad. With the gradual maturity of fuel cell technology and the gradual improvement of supporting facilities, the future maritime industry will present a situation where fuel cells and battery-powered ships coexist.
The basic conditions for the application and promotion of domestic battery-powered ships have gradually formed
With reference to new energy electric vehicles, in addition to technical maturity and safety issues, the mass promotion and application of battery-powered ships also depends on industry policies and infrastructure conditions (charging equipment).
In terms of policies, the Ministry of Transport has set a series of emission reduction targets for ship emissions, which have a positive effect on promoting the use of clean energy from ships, such as the “Implementation Plan for Ship Air Pollutant Emission Control Zone” and “Promoting the Green Development of Pearl River Water Transport” Program (2018-2020). However, from the content point of view, these documents pay more attention to the application of LNG power and shore power technology, and have limited effect on the promotion of battery-powered ship technology.
In comparison, the policy documents issued by local governments such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen play a more direct role in promoting battery-powered ship technology. The “Guangzhou Port Ship Emission Control Operation Plan (2018-2020)” formulated by the Guangzhou City clearly stated that about 5 pure electric ships or hybrid passenger ships were put into operation in terms of clean energy applications; the “2018 Shenzhen” formulated by Shenzhen The Blue “Sustainable Action Plan” proposes to promote the use of electric port work ships in the “ten major projects” including green port and shipping, and it is clear that the design plan for an electric law enforcement ship and the new ship should be completed by the end of the year. Order work. It is reported that the city is currently actively studying related subsidy policies, such as subsidies for electric steamboat renovation projects through policy channels such as renewal subsidies for old ships, etc., to encourage ships to “zero emissions.” However, some experts engaged in ship inspection work do not support the development of lithium battery ships, believing that they are more difficult to extinguish in the event of a fire.
In terms of infrastructure conditions, my country currently does not have charging facilities specifically for large-capacity electric ships, but Minister Li Xiaopeng mentioned in his speech at the 2019 Ministry of Transport work conference that in 2018, more than 2,400 sets of shore power equipment were built nationwide. Although these devices are used for the power supply of ships during berthing, they also provide a good hardware foundation for battery-powered ships to obtain electricity, which can be achieved through later technical upgrades, transformations or the addition of charging facilities. With the implementation of shore power requirements, especially the clear provisions on the use of shore power in the “Implementation Plan for Ship Air Pollutant Emission Control Zones”, the scale and area of shore power facilities across the country are expected to be further expanded.
With reference to the automobile industry, Hainan Province officially released the “Development Plan for Clean Energy Vehicles in Hainan Province” on March 5, 2019, clarifying that Hainan will accelerate the promotion of clean energy vehicles in different fields and phases. From 2030, the province will completely ban the sale of fuel vehicles. It will be built into the world’s first ecological island of clean energy vehicles, an open and shared clean energy vehicle demonstration island. It is expected that my country’s ship environmental protection requirements will also adopt the “pilot-region-national” upgrade method. Traditional inland and offshore oil-fueled ships are expected to be phased out. In the future, more shore power and charging facilities will be concentrated in the Pearl River Delta (Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay). Area), the Yangtze River Economic Belt, the Bohai Bay Rim and the Hainan region, which provide important basic conditions for the wide application of battery technology in the shipbuilding industry.
Seize the market opportunity to develop battery-powered ships
The 2019 National Transportation Work Conference made it clear that in 2019, the promotion and application of new energy and clean energy vehicles and ships will be accelerated, the use of shore power by ships will be accelerated, and the utilization of shore power facilities will be improved. At the same time, there is news that the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology intend to study and carry out the upgrading and updating of inland river vessels.
my country has about 10,300 coastal ships and 132,000 inland ships. According to the “2018 Waterway Transport Market Development and 2019 Market Outlook” issued by the Ministry of Transport, as of the end of 2018, the country had 1,832 coastal inter-provincial dry bulk carriers over 10,000 tons, with 62,475,600 deadweight tons, with an average age of 10.09 Among them, there were 190 old ships (vessels over 18 years old) and 36 ships under special inspection (vessels over 28 years old), accounting for 10.37% and 1.97% of the total number of ships; coastal inter-provincial oil tankers ( Crude oil tankers, product tankers, excluding oil and chemical dual-purpose tankers) 1,296 ships with a deadweight of 10,243,400, with an average age of 9.76 years. Among them, old ships (vessel age over 12 years) and specially inspected ships (vessel age) Over 26 years) there are 448 ships and 11 ships respectively, accounting for 34.57% and 0.85% of the total number of ships; there are 72 coastal inter-provincial liquefied gas ships with 247,900 deadweight tonnage, with an average age of 11.30 years. Among them, old ships ( There are 19 ships and 3 ships under special inspection (vessel ages over 26 years), accounting for 26.39% and 4.17% of the total number of ships; coastal inter-provincial chemical tankers (including oil and chemical dual-use) Ships) 288 ships with 1.129 million deadweight tonnages, with an average age of 10.01 years. Among them, old ships (vessels older than 12 years) and special survey ships (vessels older than 26 years) have 107 and 2 ships respectively, accounting for the total number of ships. 37.15% and 0.69% of the total number; the coastal inter-provincial transport of more than 700 TEU container ships totaled 252, 716,000 TEU, with an average age of 9.63 years, of which 27 old ships (vessels more than 20 years old) accounted for the total number of ships 10.71% of the total, there are no ships under special inspection (ships over 29 years old); the inter-provincial passenger capacity of Bohai Bay is 23 ships, 32340 seats, 3442 parking spaces, and the capacity of inter-provincial passenger ships of Qiongzhou Strait is 58 ships, 51024 seats, and 2781. Parking space (no statistics for ship age). If other types of small coastal ships and inland river ships are considered, the problem of ship aging will be more obvious, and the need for elimination and upgrade will be clearer, which provides a better market foundation for the promotion of battery technology.
At present, my country has had preliminary attempts of electric ship projects. For example, the 2000-ton electric self-unloading ship built by Guangzhou Shipyard International Co., Ltd. has a battery capacity of about 2.4MWh and can last 80 kilometers under full load. The 500-ton pure electric cargo ship transformed by Shanghai Ruihua Group can be fully charged once. Sailing for 50 hours, the voyage can reach 500 kilometers; the pure battery-powered passenger ship design project received by the Yangtze River Ship Design Institute, the ship is 100m in length, and is mainly used for tourist routes; Shanghai Fuxing Shipping and 711 jointly built the first domestic diesel Electric hybrid tug.
In order to seize market opportunities, promote the high-quality development of battery ships, and help win the battle against the blue sky, the shipbuilding industry should first focus on the technology itself, and pay attention to the pure electric and hybrid technology of ships in ferries, small and medium-sized cruise ships, sightseeing ships (inland rivers, lakes), For applications on river and sea cargo ships and work ships, develop corresponding high-energy density, long-life, large-capacity battery packs and supporting battery power systems, carry out safety tests, improve their safety levels, and study the design of new ships and existing ships And construction plan, provide related products and services. Second, it is necessary to play a role in standardization. Regarding ship battery systems and charging facilities, on the one hand, it forms standards for the safety and performance of ship power batteries and regulates the application of power batteries on ships. On the other hand, it forms shore-based charging facilities and ship charging facilities. , Berthing facilities and other supporting standards to solve the application of power batteries in the field of water transportation. Third, gradually promote policy convergence, integrate battery-powered ships as new energy projects into the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Yangtze River Economic Belt, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Hainan, Baiyangdian and other regional policies, plans, and relevant action plans, and plan pilot projects. Promote the formulation and implementation of relevant subsidy policies to form economies of scale.
