AYK Energy, a fast-expanding manufacturer of marine battery systems, has completed a battery renewal contract for four Svitzer hybrid tugs serving Chevron Australia’s Gorgon LNG terminal on Barrow Island in Western Australia.
AYK Energy founder Chris Kruger said he managed the original battery installation for the diesel electric tugs which were specially built for the Gorgon terminal in 2012. He said he is delighted to be brought back to replace the battery systems which were at end of life. Chris said the battery renewal project has seen the old batteries recycled and new AYK Aires battery systems installed on each of the Svitzer Euro, Svitzer Perentie, Svitzer Boodie, and Svitzer Dugong.
The four tugs are 33m, 80 tonne bollard-pull azimuthing stern drive (ASD) vessels and are a variation on the operator’s standard S80/33 ASD design developed specifically for tugs dedicated to escort and ship handling duties at LNG terminals.
Each of the diesel-electric ‘hybrid’ tugs will have a power management system which enables energy from its two diesel engines to be stored in batteries. The batteries can in turn be used to either supplement the diesel power or replace it, an arrangement which achieves significant reductions in carbon emissions and noise.
Unlike conventional tugs, the Svitzer hybrid vessels for Gorgon LNG can operate on only one engine when lower levels of power are required or exclusively on battery power, while maintaining full steering and maneuverability.
Chris said battery technology has advanced considerably since 2012. He said the new AYK Aires batteries will have twice as much energy density as the original batteries providing greater power and range. In total AYK built more than 5 MWh of battery power as part of the deal, equating to 1.3 MWh on each tug. The batteries will take up to 1.5 hours to fully recharge. The battery systems were built at AYK’s 5000 sqm automated manufacturing plant in Zhuhai China which opened in 2023.
“It is brilliant to be working on these four Svitzer tugs again, which are real trailblazers as some of the first diesel-electric hybrid tugs ever built,” he said. “The key now is to make them even more effective using the latest battery innovations. These new Aires batteries are not only much more powerful, they are safer, cheaper to buy, easier to install and maintain and they can run for much longer periods. We are showing how marine batteries can play a fundamental role in decarbonising the maritime industry right here and now. The technology is here, it is proven and it works. We encourage more operators to consider switching to batteries as part of their decarbonisation targets.”
AYK has built lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for the Svitzer tugs which he says is safer, with greater energy density than Nickel Manganese Cobalt (NMC).
“NMC has been the most commonly used battery chemistry because of its supposed greater density, but its chemistry is known to be much more dangerous and more costly than LFP,” he said. “AYK is now showing that LFP can outperform NMC and deliver greater energy density, higher safety and better value.”
