Renewable Energy

Maersk Supply Service, Ørsted to test offshore charging buoy

Sept. 28, 2020

Maersk Supply Service A/S and Ørsted have partnered to test a proto-type buoy that will act as both a safe mooring point and a charging station for offshore wind farm service vessels.

The buoy can be used to charge the smaller battery- or hybrid-electrical vessels and to supply power to larger vessels, enabling them to turn off their engines when laying idle.

Offshore staff

FREDERICIA, Denmark – Maersk Supply Service A/S and Ørsted have partnered to test a proto-type buoy that will act as both a safe mooring point and a charging station for offshore wind farm service vessels.

Maersk Supply Service has developed the proto-type buoy while Ørsted is responsible for its integration with the electrical grid at the offshore wind farm. The charging buoy will be tested in the second half of 2021, where it will supply overnight power to one of Ørsted’s service vessels.

Ørsted said it intends to make any intellectual property generated in designing the integration of the buoy into the offshore wind asset publicly available to maximize the uptake potential of this carbon reduction innovation across the offshore wind sector.

Jonas Munch Agerskov, managing director for Offshore Renewables at Maersk Supply Service, said: “The charging buoy tackles a multitude of problems; lower emissions, offering a safe mooring point for vessels, better power efficiency and eliminating engine noise. This is also a solution that can be implemented on a global scale, and one that can be adapted as the maritime industry moves towards hybridization and electrification.”

Upon technical validation and commercial ramp up, the electrical charging buoy has short- to medium-term potential to reduce emissions for the maritime industry, according to the companies. This will happen through displacing tens of thousands of tons of fuel consumed every year in the wider maritime sector by enabling inactive vessels to turn engines off and replace energy consumption and charge batteries with renewable electricity.

Within five years of global operation, Maersk Supply Service has the ambition to remove 5.5 million tons of CO₂, additionally avoiding particulate matter, NOx, and SOx.

Maersk Supply Service has received a DKK 22-million ($3.4-million) grant from the Danish Energy Agency’s Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Programme. The Danish Maritime Fund has provided initial support to conceptualize the project.

09/28/2020