The technology group Wärtsilä completed the installation of a hybrid energy system onboard Viking Princess, the first offshore supply vessel powered by LNG fuel.
The Norwegian vessel is now the first ever offshore supply vessel in which batteries reduce the number of generators aboard the ship.
Viking Princess completed sea trials and the system was handed over to customer Eidesvik Offshore on October 9, 2017, Wärtsilä said on Friday.
Viking Princess now runs on a combination of a battery pack for energy storage and three LNG-fueled Wärtsilä engines. The new energy storage solution provides balancing energy to cover the demand peaks, resulting in a more stable load on the engines.
The technology is similar to that used in hybrid vehicles: it prevents the engine load from dipping and uses the surplus to re-energize the battery, which can be charged as needed.
Wärtsilä added that the contract to replace one of the four engines on Viking Princess with battery power was signed in May.