The first Dutch inland vessel that runs on exchangeable electric batteries has been commissioned.
The ship Alphenaar can hoist a new battery on board during loading and unloading and immediately continue the journey. The electric vessel sails between Alphen aan den Rijn and Moerdijk for brewer Heineken.
For the development of the electric ship with exchangeable batteries, the company Zero Emission Services (ZES) was set up by ING, ENGIE, Wärtsilä and the Port of Rotterdam Authority. This was done with support from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.
ZES will ensure that ships will soon be able to exchange batteries, so-called ZESPacks, at several locations in the Netherlands. ZESPacks look like containers and can be transported in the cargo hold of the ship.
With two such batteries on board, a ship can travel about 50 to 100 kilometers. ZES wants to scale up to eight ships, eight charging stations and fourteen ZESpacks in the short term.
The transport sector is still responsible for approximately 21 percent of CO2 emissions in the Netherlands. About 5 percent of this is accounted for by inland shipping.
If inland shipping will soon no longer run on diesel but on sustainable alternatives, this will also help to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions.