Overview
New energy storage technologies can significantly improve the performance of batteries for zero-emission waterborne transport and reduce R&D and operational costs. V-ACCESS brings together expertise on supercapacitors, superconductive magnetic energy storage systems (SMES), design and control of shipboard power systems, power electronics, lifetime cycle analysis, and ship classification to increase the technology readiness level (TRL) of hybrid storage systems, i.e. combining a battery with either supercapacitors, SMES, or both. They will be integrated into an innovative DC shipboard microgrid to control flexibly the power sharing between the different energy storage technologies.
The proposed technologies are analysed from the components levels, already tested and validated at TRL3, and modelled into the vessel's power system, also using control hardware-in-the-loop simulators. Then, the individual components are assembled together and integrated into a realistic shipboard power system available at the ETEF facility of the University of Trieste to reach TRL5. Business models and standardisation needs will be deeply analysed and measures to unlock existing barriers and will be promoted in parallel to the technical knowledge generated from the project to ensure further exploitation of the project results and the definition of the steps to upscale the design of the V-ACCESS system, paving the ground for a full-scale demonstrator to be developed after the end of this project and bringing the proposed technologies closer to market.