In January 2014, WE Tech and Tianjin Xingang Shipyard in China signed a contract to provide Direct Drive Permanent Magnet Shaft Generator solution for four vessels of Wallenius Lines. Tianjin Xingang shipyard is part of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), the state-owned northern shipyard group in China. Wallenius Lines is a privately owned Swedish shipping company, specialising in transporting cars and trucks worldwide.
WE Tech, the leading energy efficient solutions provider in the global shipping industry, is to deliver its Direct-Drive Permanent Magnet Shaft Generator solution to a series of four Post-Panamax vessels ordered by Wallenius Lines. Each vessel will have a length of 200 metres and a beam of 36.5 metres, which make the cargo capacity equivalent to 8000 cars. The vessels will be built at Tianjin Xingang shipyard in northern China. The contract was signed between WE Tech and the shipyard in Tianjin, China on January 28, 2014.
The energy efficiency of the vessels will be largely increased by WE Tech’s Direct Driven Permanent Magnet Shaft Generator solution, equipped with the WE DriveTM (Variable Frequency Drive) and the Permanent Magnet Shaft Generator. With its active front-end frequency drive technology, the WE DriveTM allows the shaft generator to operate at variable speed. This enables the propulsion machinery to be operated at its optimal duty point at all times and gives a vessel up to 20 per cent better efficiency compared with constant speed operation. Thanks to the WE DriveTM and the Permanent Magnet Shaft Generator, the electrical network of the vessel is generated with the same high efficiency, throughout the full speed range of the Main Engine – this feature being especially prominent in electrical part loads.
With the WE DriveTM and Direct-Drive Permanent Magnet Shaft Generator in Power Take Out (PTO) mode, the vessel’s electrical power is generated by the fuel efficient two-stroke Main Engine, which means that auxiliary generators can be stopped. As the operating hours of the auxiliary generators are reduced, there will be significant savings in service and maintenance costs.
In Power Take In (PTI) mode, the WE DriveTM converts auxiliary generator power to propulsion power by employing the Direct-Drive Permanent Magnet Shaft Generator as a motor. By utilising the PTI feature in Boost Mode, the WE DriveTM also ensures 1 MW boost power directly on the propeller shaft supporting the Main Engine when required, thus enabling a low-load optimised Main Engine.
WE Tech’s Direct-Drive Permanent Magnet Shaft Generator solution will increase efficiency and reduce fuel oil consumption of the Post-Panamax vessels of Wallenius Lines. In total, the fuel consumption per cargo unit is expected to be approximately 15 per cent lower compared with Wallenius’ 200 metre Panamax vessels, such as m/v AIDA and m/v OTELLO. The equipment delivery to Tianjin Xingang shipyard will be starting from November, 2014.