Maersk Supply Service will has announced plans to test a prototype charging station buoy for battery-powered vessels.

For the project, Maersk Supply Service, part of A.P. Moller-Maersk, has joined forces with Danish power company Ørsted for testing of the buoy at one of Ørsted’s offshore wind farms in 2021.

“Maersk Supply Service A/S and Ørsted, the world leader in offshore wind, have formed a partnership to test an innovative charging buoy that can bring green electricity to offshore wind farm service vessels and potentially to a wide range of maritime vessels,” Maersk Supply Service said in a statement. “The buoy can be used to charge the smaller battery- or hybrid-electrical vessels and to supply power to larger vessels, enabling them to turn off their engines when laying idle. By substituting fossil-based fuels with green electricity, virtually all emissions are eliminated while the buoy is in use.”

The prototype buoy has been developed by Maersk Supply Service with Ørsted providing integration with the electrical grid at the wind farm. The charging buoy is scheduled to be tested in the second half of 2021, where it will supply overnight power to one of Ørsted’s service vessels.

“Upon technical validation and commercial ramp up, the electrical charging buoy has significant potential, short to medium term, to contribute positively to reduce emissions for the maritime industry,” Maersk Supply Service said. “This will happen through displacing tens of thousands of tons of fuel consumed every year in the wider maritime sector by enabling inactive vessels to turn engines off and replace energy consumption and charge batteries with renewable electricity. Within five years of global operation, Maersk Supply Service has the ambition to remove 5.5 million tons of CO2, additionally avoiding particulate matter, NOx, and Sox.”