Incat Tasmania to deliver the world’s largest battery electric Ship

FerryAustralian shipbuilder Incat Tasmania has under construction the largest lightweight battery electric ship so far constructed in the world for delivery to its South American customer, Buquebus. This 130-metre ship will be operated as 100% battery electric and have a battery capacity at over 40MWh, almost four times larger than any battery installation that has been constructed and installed anywhere in the world for the marine transport environment.

The batteries power a series of E-motors which drive the water jet propulsion system. The electrical system integration is by Wärtsilä and ESS by Corvus Energy.

The interest in these battery electric ships is very positive and Incat is now working toward the construction of its second but smaller battery-electric vehicle/passenger ferry.

Incat Founder Robert Clifford said,

“We are proud to be building in Tasmania this first in class ship for Buquebus who like us share a vision to be at the leading edge of low emission shipping in the world. Incat has always been an innovator and once again we are leading the world and the world is taking notice.

This worldwide interest in Incat’s capabilities to deliver electric ships is a great opportunity for Tasmania and we expect this interest to magnify.

We are already increasing our workforce and have just finalized plans for the recruitment of at least another 200 employees over the next 12 months with the expectation that our workforce will more than double in coming years”.

Incat Managing Director Craig Clifford said,

“The build of the Buquebus ship is leading the world in this type of ship construction and will have leading edge technology in terms of zero emissions propulsion and storage systems. Once in operation the shore-side charging systems will have 50% more capacity than any current installation world-wide.

The Incat Hull 096 will have a capacity for 2,100 passengers and crew, 225 cars and will also include a Duty-Free Shop of over 2,000 square metres on the one level.”

Craig Clifford continued: “The feedback from overseas has been extraordinarily positive I expect that we are going to see many more battery electric ships built here at Incat in Tasmania.

The opportunities for jobs and investment here in Tasmania are exceptional.

The Australian Federal Government has a clear plan for decarbonising the economy and with 100% renewable energy and already net zero emissions having been achieved here in Tasmania we are ideally placed to build zero emission ships for the world right here.

In fact, due to Tasmania already having achieved overall net zero emissions we are the only location on the planet that is able to construct zero-emission, battery electric ships in an already net zero emissions environment for our customers”.