Hybrid solutions of all types securing growing market share

摘要

With 2020 almost in sight, classification society DNV GL recently revisited its Shipping 2020 report, published in 2012. Three years later, it says hybrid propulsion systems have emerged much more quickly than it anticipated. Speaking at Nor-Shipping 2015 in Oslo in June, DNV GL CEO Tor Svensen noted that, when the report was published, the rise of hybrid vessels had not been anticipated. However, a significant reduction in battery prices and improved energy storage capacity means that hybrid systems are now becoming a real option for the shipping industry. They are, he explained, best suited for vessels with large variations in power demand, coastal trades and operations within emission control areas, although not all 'hybrid' machinery solutions necessarily make use of batteries.