Comparisons of Different Propulsion Topologies of Service Ships for Islands

Maritime transport is one of the main drivers of a country’s economic growth. Up to 90% of world trade is carried out by sea. However, the high consumption of fossil fuels leads to significant greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants emissions, such as the nitrogen dioxide (NOx) and the sulfur oxides (SOx). Decarbonizing maritime transport, through the transition to electrified propulsion, is a major challenge for researchers and engineers in the naval construction sector. This paper studies electric, thermal and hybrid energy/propulsion solutions for ships serving the island of Ouessant, located near Brittany’s coast in France. Using a simplified methodology based on power flows between the various components (batteries, generators, fuel cells), the most suitable type of energy is investigated according to the case study, for efficient and effective vessel use. The simulations show that the energy consumption of the fully electric solution is the best with 5.78 MWh consumed against, for example, 13.89 MWh equivalent of fuel for the classic diesel topology.