Comment by robin_reala
1 month ago
If it’s anything like the electric ferries that cross the Öresund beween Helsingborg and Helsingør, they grab charge while they’re unloading and loading at each terminal:
Each trip consumes approximately 1,175 kWh, which is nearly the same amount a residential home consumes in a month. In each port is a tower with a robot arm that connects the charging cable automatically every time the ship comes to the dock. The system charges 10.5 kV, 600Amp and 10.5MW. The batteries have a total capacity of 4,160 kWh, which means that we always have a surplus of electricity if for some reason we cannot load during a stop or if the transit takes more time than usual.
In Helsingör the ferries charge for approx. 6 minutes and in Helsingborg the ferries charge for approx. 9 minutes. This is enough to suffice for the journey across the strait.[1]
Side note: you can also charge your car on board from the boat’s batteries.
10.5MW on demand is wild
So in the Fully Charged video about this ship, the shipyard CEO just casually mentions the customer is looking at having 40 MW at each end.
It would also be interesting to know how they plan to balance the grid when the ship plugs is.
It’s not that big when you consider many DC car chargers can deliver 0.25 MW.
So ”only” 42 car sized chargers for a massive boat, there are probably some massive Tesla superchargers sites that approach that.
The Cruise Ship Terminal in San Francisco has 12 mW. Apparently it's uncommon in that it's wired with enough power available so the cruise ships don't have to run their on board generators while docked in port here. It's a major pollution thing.