Peak power for heavy lift

Echandia Ultra powers SAL’s electric heavy-lift cranes

Last week, SAL Heavy Lift christened the third vessel in its Orca Class. Equipped with two fully electric, 800-tonne cranes, it is designed for demanding project cargo operations.

Crane operations on the Orca Class create short, intense peaks in power demand. When cargo is lowered, energy can be recovered through the vessel’s electrical system, stored and used again. Echandia Ultra supports this operating profile, which differs from applications focused primarily on maximizing stored energy.

The Orca Class vessels need large amounts of power immediately, and you need to be able to absorb energy again just as quickly. That cycle is repeated throughout cargo operations

says Ebba Hellstenius, project manager at Echandia.

Reduce fuel consumption

Despite that operating intensity, Echandia Ultra is designed to maintain stable performance with very low degradation over time. During crane operations, the system can reduce fuel consumption and strain on generators. Furthermore, the battery boosts the shore power capacity to a level that crane operations can be performed with low voltage shore power supply. At sea, the same hybrid architecture can smooth fluctuations in engine load.

The battery must deliver the required power when the vessel is new and continue to do so reliably year after year, low degradation means the system can be designed for the real operational need instead of adding excess battery capacity to compensate for ageing.

Ebba Hellstenius, project manager at Echandia.

With MV Patricia joining the Orca Class fleet, SAL Heavy Lift is extending maritime electrification beyond propulsion. The vessel combines electric cranes, hybrid power and energy storage in an integrated system that can improve the efficiency of demanding onboard equipment and create operational value in heavy-lift operations.