Ships are too large! Battery capacity isn’t there yet! It’s too expensive!

These are only some of the many arguments that surface when discussing the potential of electrifying cargo vessels. Over the course of this presentation, we will tackle these preoccupations and more, and explore why electrification is a promising, and often overlooked, decarbonization pathway for marine shipping, especially on short-sea routes where its technical feasibility has been proven time and again. Through advances in diesel-electric propulsion technologies, optimizations in hydrodynamic hull efficiency, and the ever-growing strides in performance of marine battery technologies, an increasing number of electric ships are either currently in operation or under construction. Notable examples include the Yara Birkeland, a container ship with 6.8MWh of integrated battery capacity operating in Norway, and Buquebús’s 40MWh fully electric ferry set to operate in Uruguay upon delivery in 2025. The environmental benefits of these technologies are significant, with electrification promising one of the largest reductions in greenhouse gas emissions compared with conventional fuels on short-sea routes in Canada today. Additional benefits include a reduction in air pollutants, noise pollution, and onboard vibrations that disturb marine ecosystems in the Great Lakes and St-Lawrence Seaway. With its technical feasibility and environmental benefits well-established, it’s crucial that the major roadblock to marine electrification in Canada be identified: high capital costs. In projects of this complexity, capital costs are driven by various factors, including: the technology cost of battery banks and charging infrastructure, surging shipyard prices resulting from high market demand, and looming tariffs on foreign goods driven by protectionist government policies, similar to those currently being imposed on electric vehicles. To manage these costs, we may draw on lessons-learned from success stories globally, like that of Asko’s fully electric ferries operating on the fjords around Oslo which highlights the importance of a fully electrified supply chain in enhancing return on high capital investments. This proven approach, which features the electrification of not only vessels but of the port infrastructure as well as the vehicles serving them, demonstrates a heightened utilization of enhanced grid capacity and high-power equipment. As one could imagine, this approach requires active buy-in and close collaboration between vessel owners, operators, customers, port authorities, and seaway administrators who will ultimately share the cost of electrification, but in doing so, will also unlock its benefits. Other key stakeholders in the success of projects like Asko’s ferries, or the tugboat and ferry electrification programs and shore power connections for cruise ships on the American west coast, are the various levels of government who lend support through their many subsidy programs, suggesting that government plays a critical role in overcoming the roadblock to marine electrification in Canada. Audience members will leave this presentation with an appreciation for the technical feasibility of marine electrification on short-sea routes, an understanding of its dramatic environmental gains, and with the motivation required to adopt the key roles they will play in unlocking its benefits. Electrification is possible. Electrification is beneficial – but costs are critical and can only be managed if we work together.