Norsepower has been selected to receive 2.[ds_preview]6 mill. € in funding to further its research and development of the Norsepower Rotor Sail Solution technology. The new models of the technology will include the world’s largest ever Flettner rotor.
Awarded by both the European Commission and the Finnish Government’s funding agency for Innovation, Tekes, the funding will be used by Norsepower to optimise its Rotor Sail Solution to deliver greater fuel savings and enhanced ROI. The new Rotor Sail models will be ideally suited for tankers, bulk carriers, large ro-pax, and full size passenger vessels where smaller Rotor Sails would be inefficient.
The new models will be designed to be suitable for ships voyaging globally, including the Northern Hemisphere and Arctic regions that have not yet seen auxiliary wind propulsion despite having favourable wind conditions. The record-breaking Rotor Sail model is planned to be 30m in height and 5m in diameter, with a maximum main-engine equivalent power output of more than four megawatts (MW).
The Norsepower Rotor Sail Solution, which can be installed on new vessels or retrofitted on existing ships without off-hire costs, is a modernised version of the Flettner rotor; a spinning cylinder that uses the Magnus effect to harness wind power to generate forward thrust. The solution is fully automated and senses whenever the wind is strong enough to deliver fuel savings, at which point the rotors start automatically.
To date, independent data analysis indicates that up to 25% fuel savings per year can be achieved on routes with favourable wind flows, sufficient sized Rotor Sails, and appropriate service speed. The technology has proven commercial applicability, with two small units of Norsepower’s Rotor Sails installed on board Bore’s »Estraden«, a 9,700 tdw Ro-Ro carrier. Measured and independently verified by NAPA, the leading maritime data analysis provider, the Rotor Sail Solution delivered fuel consumption reductions of 6.1% for the »Estraden.«
