Demonstration of 12pax fully-electric hydrofoiling Crew Transfer Vessel

海上风电行业每天使用船员转移船(CTV)运送技术人员在风电场进行操作和维护(O&M)活动。在运营过程中，他们使用耗电的“系桩推进操作”推动风力涡轮机，长时间消耗高达80%的峰值发动机功率。分析预测，到2035年，欧洲的CTV需求峰值将达到524艘，目前舰队中30%的船只在20米以下。对于这种规模的船只来说，典型的运营日可能会消耗600升燃料。使用传统的化石燃料解决方案，每年运行275天，这将在英国和欧盟产生8.2万吨二氧化碳。高速船只脱碳的主要挑战是缺乏可行的航程。水是一种非常稠密的流体，需要大量的能量来推动船在水中前进。日常CTV操作所需的平均射程比标准船只改用纯电池或燃料电池操作的技术可能要大。在过去的四年里，Artemis Technologies一直在开发一种破坏性的电力推进系统，Artemis-eFoiler。这项创新包括将高功率密度的电动传动系统转变为自主控制的水翼，结合了赛车运动、帆船比赛和航空航天领域的技术。随着Artemis-eFoile推进的船只加速，水翼将船体提升并浮出水面，极大地减少了湿润的面积，从而减少了拖曳。2021年，Artemis下水了世界上第一艘100%电动衬箔工作船。正在进行的11.5米原型与其汽油姊妹船的测试已经证明，该船可以在零温室气体排放的同时，在能源效率(高达90%)和乘坐舒适性方面提供显著改善。Artemis进行的分析调查了使用12米电箔CTV取代在近海风力发电场运行的更大的柴油CTV的可行性。然而，一个主要的市场障碍已经被提出，人们担心受挫的电力CTV能否转移到风力发电场，并在高达1.5米的有效波高下安全地将技术人员转移到涡轮机上，这是整个市场的CTV操作要求。进一步的详细研究发现，定向推力是确保能够有效和安全地完成具有挑战性的系缆-推索演习的关键要求。因此，在这个项目中，Artemis将对其现有的1200万个产品进行升级，从包括一个单一的固定推进吊舱发展到能够容纳第二个定向推进吊舱。这将确保12米电箔CTV有能力和适合有线电视市场，并最大限度地增加Artemis的1200万艘船的机会和应用。为了推动市场在海上风电领域采用eFoiler技术，这一障碍需要通过现实世界的演示来解决。因此，该示范项目的愿景是开发、测试和部署一台12米高的100%电箔CTV、“eFoeller Small-CTV”和岸上充电基础设施，以在伊尔斯特德的巴罗风力发电场提供零排放船员转移操作。最初，该船将以单推进配置交付，以完成基本训练、试验和演示，然后将使用Artemis最新开发的双推进系统进行改装，使船能够进行“全面”试验和演示。

Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs) are used daily in the offshore wind sector to transport technicians to undertake operation and maintenance (O&M) activities at windfarms. During operations they push against a wind turbine using a power-hungry "bollard push manoeuvre", drawing up to 80% of peak engine power for prolonged periods.Analysis predicts peak CTV demand of 524 vessels in Europe by 2035, with 30% of the current fleet below 20m. A typical operational day for a vessel this size could consume 600-litres of fuel. Operating for 275 days annually, with a traditional fossil fuel solution, this would generate 82,000tCO2e across UK and EU.The main challenge with the decarbonisation of high-speed vessels is the lack of viable range. Water is a very dense fluid requiring a lot of energy to propel a boat through water. The average range needed for daily CTV operations is greater than technically possible with standard vessels converted to pure battery or fuel cell operation.Over the last four years, Artemis Technologies has been developing a disruptive electric propulsion system, the Artemis-eFoiler. The innovation includes a high power-density electric drivetrain into an autonomously controlled hydrofoil, combining technologies from motorsport, yacht racing, and the aerospace sector. As an Artemis-eFoiler propelled vessel accelerates, the hydrofoils lift the hull up and out of the water, greatly reducing the wetted area and therefore drag.In 2021, Artemis launched the world's first 100% electric foiling workboat. Ongoing testing of the 11.5m prototype against its gasoline sistership, has proved that the vessel can provide significant improvements in energy efficiency (up to 90%) and ride comfort whilst generating zero GHG emissions.Analysis undertaken by Artemis investigated the viability of using a 12m electric foiling CTV to replace larger diesel CTVs operating at near shore wind farms. However, a major market barrier has been raised, with concerns regarding whether a foiling electric CTV could transit to the wind farm and safely transfer technicians onto turbines in up to 1.5m significant wave height, a market wide CTV operational requirement. Further detailed study has identified that directional thrust is a critical requirement for ensuring the challenging bollard-push manoeuvre can be completed effectively and safely. Therefore, during this project Artemis will evolve it’s existing 12m product offering from including a single, fixed propulsion pod to being able to accommodate a second, directional propulsion pod. This will ensure the 12m electric foiling CTV is capable & suitable for the CTV market and maximises the opportunity & applications for Artemis’ 12m vessels. In order to drive market uptake of the eFoiler technology in the offshore wind sector, this barrier needs to be addressed through a real-world demonstration. Consequently, the vision of this demonstration project is to develop, test and deploy a 12m 100% electric foiling CTV, "eFoiler Small-CTV" and shore-based charging infrastructure, to deliver zero emission crew transfer operations at Ørsted's Barrow wind farm. Initially the vessel will be delivered with the single propulsion configuration to complete basic training, trials, and demonstrations, and then it will be retrofitted with Artemis’ newly developed dual propulsion system allowing the vessel then to undertake ‘full’ trials & demonstrations.