The Prins ZEs, operated by hydraulic engineering company Van den Herik, has launched in the Netherlands. It is powered by Tesvolt Ocean batteries charged via hydrogen fuel cells and, according to the project partners, is the world’s first fully emission-free cable excavator vessel.
Converted from the work vessel Prins 6, the vessel covers long distances every day and requires a large amount of energy. The installed Compass Core battery modules from the Kaptein series provide a storage capacity of nearly 2MWh. A complete recharge from the on-site fuel generator takes about 12 hours. After a full charge, the vessel is said to be capable of operating and working for an entire working day.
“We needed batteries that could charge large amounts of energy quickly and take up minimal space on board,” said Isolde Struijk, the managing director of Van den Herik. “When the crane begins operation, it creates high load peaks, so it was equally important for the battery system to be exceptionally robust.”
Tesvolt Ocean says the modules were designed with retrofit projects in mind. “Despite their low weight, the modules offer very high energy density,” explained Michael Miebach, the company’s key account manager. He noted that the entire storage system fits into an area of roughly 0.6 × 3.6m and around 1.8m in height.
Because inland waterways lack charging infrastructure, Van den Herik developed a compact hydrogen fuel-cell generator. The unit, measuring 3 × 2.6 × 2.5m, can deliver up to 3,600kWh per day. Hydrogen stored in a nearby trailer is converted to electricity and fed directly to the onboard batteries.
Rijkswaterstaat, the Dutch water authority, has recognized the vessel as a pioneering step toward decarbonizing inland engineering. “Projects like the Prins ZEs show that decarbonization in hydraulic engineering is possible when government and industry take shared responsibility,” said Roger Mol, the organization’s head of sustainability and procurement.
The conversion has earned the vessel Green Award Gold certification for sustainable innovation.
In related news, Solé Advance develops hydrogen fuel cell for marine propulsion and onboard power generation