Sweden, Denmark to Boast Battery-Powered Ferries to Better Baltic Air

The ferries Tycho Brahe and Aurora, run by the shipping company HH Ferries, are scheduled to switch from diesel to battery power. The Tycho Brahe will undergo the transition in summer, with the Aurora following suit in autumn.

A total of 640 lithium batteries with a total power of 1,200 kWh, which corresponds to 10,700 automobile batteries, will be deployed in four containers near the chimney. The charging will be done automatically at quays at termini in Sweden and Denmark. It will happen quickly, as the ferries only spend from six to 12 minutes in harbor between runs. The diesel engines will be kept on board as a reserve.

"It is a very exciting project. All my crew is very much looking forward to this, both for the development of ships and for the line, and not least for the environment," Magnus Stille, the commander of the Aurora, told Swedish Radio.

This transition is expected to be largely beneficial for the vicinity's environment and was hailed on both sides of the strait. Today, ferry traffic accounts for 15 percent of the nitrogen oxide emitted in the air in Helsinborg, which is why Jens Gille, the head of the city council's environmental department, totally welcomed the changeover.

"This will have a positive impact on the quality of air. We also set our hopes in a reduced noise impact after we remove the diesel engines," Jens Gille said.

​The investment of 300 million SEK ($34mln) is HH Ferries largest so far. Of this sum, approximately 120 million SEK ($14mln) stem from EU aid. At present, it has not been decided yet whether the company's other ferries will be rebuild as well or not. However, falling electricity prices induce hopes of a cheaper and more encompassing transition. According to HH Ferries CEO Henrik Rörbäck, the company's objective is to promote the use of green power. In southern Sweden, green electricity is mostly generated by wind and water turbines.

​All in all, HH Ferries operates five ferries on the route between Sweden's Helsingborg (population 100,000) and Denmark's Helsingør (population 60,000). The latter is perhaps more known under its English name of Elsinore and is home to the Kronborg castle, where William Shakespeare's play Hamlet is set. The distance between the two towns is approximately four kilometers.

The Tycho Brahe, named after the Danish 16th-century astronomer, is 111 meters long and 28 meters broad and has a gross tonnage of 11,148 tons.

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