Mega yachts are going electric – Nidec installs giant battery pack in 165′ yacht

Nidec, a Japanese manufacturer of electric motors and other systems, announced that it has installed an electric power system inside a 165′ Wider ‘mega yacht’.

We have already seen ships going all-electric, but they are mainly ferries operating over short distances.

The operators of the first all-electric ferry in Norway, the ‘Ampere’, reported some impressive statistics after operating the ship for over two years. They claim that the all-electric ferry cuts emissions by 95% and costs by 80%.

Many more ferries have gone electric and more are being ordered.

But electric powertrains are also making their way in other kinds of boats. We recently reported on a new plug-in hybrid cruise ship sailing for the Arctic.

Now we are seeing a similar system deployed in a mega yacht – more specifically a Wider 165 mega yacht:

Dominique Llonch, CEO of Nidec ASI and Chairman of Nidec Industrial Solutions, commented:

“This important project confirms our commitment to supporting innovation in an increasingly green viewpoint in the nautical sector, strategic for the promotion of more sustainable mobility. Thanks to the significant experience we have acquired in the realization of many contracts, in the first place with regard to overhauling the Italian Navy’s school ship “Amerigo Vespucci”, combined with consolidated experience in the development of advanced solutions for the storage and management of the power supply, we are able to offer custom solutions for safe, eco-friendly navigation everywhere in the world, reducing emissions to a minimum and lowering the impact on the marine ecosystem. Wider 165 and its twin Wider 150 are a great source of pride for me, because they illustrate the adaptability of our solutions, which have applications not only for ships and ferries, but also for vessels with unique technical needs and assemblies.”

Specifically, Nidec installed a massie 544 kWh battery pack with a power management system (PMS, HMI & remote control), a Common DC bus architecture, Inverters for generators of current (4 x 350kW), Inverters for main propulsion (2 x 531kW), Inverters and transformers for board grid 230V & 400V/Harbor grid, and water cooled drive modules.

Nidec says that the yacht can “cruise in ‘Zero Emission Mode’ (ZEM) for over 4 hours at a speed of 5 knots without producing any emissions of gas in the air or other substances in the water, guaranteeing safe, sustainable navigation.”