But back to the tugboat or ferry of the future, how will they operate?
"It depends on the application of the vessel and the infrastructure provided," explains Tobias Kohl. Certainly, tugs that only operate in port and thus do not have large range requirements are more likely to be able to be operated electrically than fast ferries that are underway all day on longer routes. "And it's also certain that they won't make it across the ocean with purely battery-electric drives," Kohl said. For that, the energy storage systems would have to be huge, and there isn't that much space on board. Ferries in coastal areas will rely on internal combustion engines with sustainable fuels such as methanol, integrated into an electric, mechanical or even hybrid propulsion system, and later on fuel cell systems.
Rolls-Royce is currently developing a complete solution architecture that can be adapted according to customer needs. The basis is mtu hybrid solutions in a modular system that can be varied according to customer requirements in terms of performance and range, with additional batteries. This modular system is designed in such a way that future technologies such as methanol combustion engines or fuel cells can be subsequently integrated as soon as they become available.