Shipping with the wind
WASP: Wind Assisted Ship Propulsion Green Transition Denmark is working on a project to reduce the environmental impact of the larger ships in the North Sea. With several foreign partners we are exploring how to use wind power technology to reduce the fuel consumption of the ships.
Shipping is one of the major culprits in terms of CO2 emissions and air pollution. The large cargo and passenger ships in the North Sea sail on heavy bunker oil containing 100 times as much sulphur as regular diesel. Since there are no requirements regarding the ships’ filters, the substance is typically burned without any flue gas cleaning. The massive fuel consumption and the lack of proper filters have major environmental and health consequences. The emissions increase global warming making the ice in the Arctic melt faster. At the same time, the air pollution is harmful to people’s health increasing the risk of a wide range of serious illnesses such as cancer, blood clots and respiratory diseases.
Therefore, Green Transition Denmark is working on a large EU project aiming to harness wind power in order to make shipping in the North Sea greener. With a number of foreign shipping companies, universities, technology suppliers and non-governmental organisations, we explore how to make use of wind power technology in order to reduce the fuel consumption of the ships in the North Sea.
With the help of retrofitted sails, a better exploitation of weather conditions, as well as optimization of the ships and their routes, we expect to be able to achieve fuel savings of up to 8-10 percent. On newer ships, we expect to achieve an even greater fuel saving of more than 15 percent. Using wind power to save fuel usage will not only reduce shipowners’ costs, but it will also benefit the economy of the nearby countries, as the reduced air pollution in the area will lead to lower risk of diseases and less environmental impact. At the end of the project, we plan to make use of the results and experiences to, hopefully, utilise it in the global shipping industry.
Time frame: 2019-2022
Funding: The EU Interreg programme and The Danish Energy Fund.
Partners: Chalmers University of Technology, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Kühne Logistics University, Nord University, SSPA, The European Federation for Transport and Environment, International Windship Association, Netherlands Maritime Technology Foundation (project coordinator) and a number of shipping companies including HHX.blue, Rörd Braren og Boomsma Shipping.