Hybrid ship ahoy: Valence to supply Siemens

Lithium ion battery company Valence plans to supply batteries to Siemens for hybrid ships and to Chicago utility S&C Electric for grid storage.

Its deal with Siemens Drive Technologies calls for Valence to develop energy storage for a planned hybrid marine propulsion system from Siemens. Valence will hook up its lithium iron magnesium phosphate batteries to Siemens' drive system via a standard interface, the company said.

The two companies have already supplied a hybrid drive train for double-decker buses from Wrightbus.

Valence on Wednesday said it intends to supply grid-connected storage systems for S&C Electric, which will enable the utility to use more wind and solar power.

Austin, Texas-based Valence is one of several small battery companies vying for business from large industrial companies in transportation and the power industry. Making deals with large corporations is vital to their success.

A123 Systems, for example, signed a deal with Chrysler for electric vehicles, though that deal is now in question, as Chrysler may be acquired by Fiat. Boston Power last week said it is already testing its Swing car battery pack with automakers.

Grid storage, too, has become a potential market, as more utilities look to large-scale storage--on the order of 1 or 2 megawatts of capacity--to stabilize the flow of electricity on the grid, and to store solar and wind power.

[contentcreator--2008]

Hybrid power systems make sense for periodic-use stop and start vehicles like cars, trucks, buses, etc. But what's the point of a hybrid system for a ship that runs at a constant speed for weeks at a time???

[monkeyfun14]

Enough batteries will outlast fuel.

The problem with batteries is not how long they last its how long they take to charge with a ship with will be back before a recharge is needed and with a ship don't think of a 150 pound lithium car battery think of a 5 ton battery that will last a month or 2 without charging.

[illil0]

I was wondering the same thing. The only thing I could think of is maybe solar or wind power, but even then, why bother storing it, just plug it right into the motor.

[tech_crazy]

I am guessing it would be used during loading/unloading when the alternators are required and hence the engines have to be on but this is inefficient. Similarly, airplanes are commonly tugged to the runway by tows instead of having to turn on the engines at low speed which is supposedly very inefficient. Airlines claim that this saves them a lot of fuel.

Also, when coming into and getting out of ports (at very slow speeds) must be inefficient for the engines and this could be another place where the electric motors could kick in and conserve fuel.

Maybe there are other uses also. Just my guess.