Wasaline plans to expand the onboard battery capacity of hybrid ro-pax ferry Aurora Botnia with an additional 10.4MWh lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery, which is to be supplied by marine battery company AYK Energy in autumn 2025 and in operation in January 2026.
Aurora Botnia’s propulsion technology
After being built by Rauma Marine Constructions, Aurora Botnia entered service on August 28, 2021. The ferry was originally designed to be propelled by its 2.2MWh batteries, electric-powered azimuth thrusters and dual-fuel engines, which used LNG and biogas. The new battery upgrade is expected to cut fossil energy use by approximately 10,000MWh a year.
Chris Kruger, the founder and president of AYK Energy, stated, “This is the largest battery retrofit on a vessel to date, and we are extremely proud to be partnering with Wasaline as the provider of this advanced battery solution. Being recognized once again as a reliable and cost-effective supplier is extremely gratifying.”
Sustainable goals
Aurora Botnia forms part of Wasaline’s plan for its operations to be carbon neutral by 2030. This investment is projected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 23%. Since operations began in January 2013 with the Wasa Express, emissions have been reduced by 77% per trip, which meets the EU’s climate goal of a 55% reduction in emissions by 2030 compared with 1990 levels.
Peter Ståhlberg, the managing director of Wasaline, added, “We are continuously working to establish the Vaasa–Umeå route as a green shipping corridor. There’s growing demand for environmentally friendly transport, and intermodal cargo transportation from Europe is increasing yearly. This means the entire transport chain can be carbon neutral today. Expanding our battery capacity is a major step that allows us to make our vessel even more sustainable and allocate more capacity to batteries and biogas. Our collaboration with Finland’s and the region’s energy clusters makes innovative solutions like this possible. We are proud to be a forerunner in the industry.”
Kruger continued, “This project exemplifies AYK’s vision of bringing high-quality, safe and cost-effective solutions to address our customers’ requirements for environmentally friendly transport. The transition to electric and hybrid vessels is accelerating, and the AYK/Wasaline partnership is an excellent example of how working together strategically can make the change happen.”
In related news, Molabo recently equipped the Port of Barcelona’s all-electric commuter ferry, the Ecocat Tres, with its Aries i50 electric motors. Click here to read the full story.
