During the reconstruction works, which cost almost EUR 1.6
million, TS Laevad, a subsidiary company of the Port of Tallinn, installed
batteries on board Tõll.
The ship’s batteries allow from now on partial travel on
electricity, which reduces the amount of diesel used and minimizes air
pollution.
Specifically, the batteries are expected to reduce the
vessel’s diesel consumption by 20%, thus also cutting CO2 emissions by 1,600
tons per year. In addition to emissions, underwater noise and vibration levels
are also reduced.
Starting from 2 September, passengers on Virtsu-Kuivastu ferry
line between Muhu and mainland Estonia are served by TS Laevad’s ferry Tõll.
Jaak Kaabel, chairman of the management board of TS Laevad,
noted that the retrofitting of Tõll is the next step in improving the
environmental friendliness of the Estonian ferry sector, to which the company
has paid increased attention over the past years.
“For several years now, we have been working to completely
eliminate the use of fossil fuel on ferries in the Väinameri Sea area and
achieve the zero-emission goal. The conversion of Tõll into Estonia’s first
hybrid RoPax vessel is an important step towards this direction,” Kaabel said,
adding that if the partially battery-powered solution proves efficient and
justified, other new ships of the company will follow suit.
According to Taavi Aas, Minister of Economy and
Infrastructure, the entire transportation sector is moving towards achieving
the climate goals, and TS Laevad that provides transport services between the
mainland and the islands, plays an important part here.
“Ambitious climate targets are accelerating the transition
to cleaner technologies and solutions. The first hybrid passenger vessel is a
development benchmark for all ferry shipping in Estonia,” Aas said.
TS Laevad operates regular ferry traffic between Estonia’s
major islands Saaremaa and Hiiumaa and the mainland. TS Laevad’s fleet includes
five ferries, of which Tõll, Piret and Regula operate the Virtsu-Kuivastu line
and Leiger and Tiiu the Rohuküla-Heltermaa line.
TS Laevad was the first company in Estonia to use a
diesel-electric hybrid solution on a ferry that runs with frequent daily
departures and maneuvers, including in the winter months – in sub-zero
temperatures. Previously, the battery technology anywhere in the world has not
been used on such a large passenger ferry operating in such ice conditions in
winter.
The retrofitting of Tõll began in 2019. The construction
work was carried out by Baltic Workboats acting as a general contractor, the
batteries were supplied by Corvus Energy, the electrical and automatic
equipment by Norwegian Electric Systems, and the peak-shaving hybrid solution
was designed by LMG Marin.