Wireless Charging for Ships: High-Power Inductive Charging for Battery Electric and Plug-In Hybrid Vessels

摘要

This article discusses the general challenges of high-power battery charging in marine applications, with a focus on electric ferries that have tight schedules and short docking times. For such applications, inductive wireless power transfer allows for safe and fully automated operations with better utilization of the docking time for charging the batteries. Battery charging for ship applications requires higher power levels in a single charging unit than what has been demonstrated for public transportation systems like buses and trams. The technical challenges of designing high-power inductive charging systems in marine applications are discussed, and the general characteristics of a solution developed for power transfer in the range of 1-2 MW are described. The presented concept, envisioned as an integrated part of a zero emission ferry in Figure 1, has been demonstrated in fullscale laboratory environments and is currently being installed for testing in regular operation on the Norwegian ferry MS Folgefonn, which is a plug-in hybrid vessel being used for industrial demonstration projects.