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The Finnish electric drive train specialist Visedo has been selected as the sole electric system supplier for the world's largest fully electric ferryboat to be built by the Danish shipbuilder Søby Shipyard Ltd.

The ferry is to be introduced in June 2017 to transport vehicles and passengers between the island of Ærø and the Danish mainland.

According to Visedo, the company was preferred over the industry giant Siemens.

As one of the top 5 projects in the EU Horizon 2020 initiative - a program with a total budget of 21 million euros - this initiative is part of the Danish Natura project, which guarantees local people green transportation in these areas. The ferry is to feature a state-of-the-art design and achieve efficiency gains by optimizing weight by integrating lighter materials and equipment. Visedo says the vessel will reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2,000 tonnes and nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions by 41,500 kilogrammes per year.

The silent electric propulsion system from Visedo will also reduce the emitted noise level compared to diesel engine operation. In addition, Visedo says the vessel will reduce wake waves right behind the ferry by 60-70 percent and will be able to navigate in the EU Natura areas. "The E-ferry design is considered safer and its drive train more redundant than in existing ferries," Visedo added.

Dr. Kimmo Rauma, CEO of Visedo, commented: "This new contract, along with several recently won marine projects like the Damen Eco-Liner project in The Netherlands, gives further validation of Visedo's strong execution of its business plan. Thanks to our technology allowing the most efficient and compact systems available, Visedo is winning groundbreaking projects in the marine market. The orders secured in 2015 mark a significant breakthrough for Visedo in terms of deploying its growth plan and strategy."

Last month, on May 4, Visedo already announced a strategic cooperation agreement with the Swiss battery manufacturer Leclanché. Owing to this cooperation, Leclanché also received an order for the 4,2 MWh battery system along with the battery management system developed by Visedo.

Martti Ukkonen, EVP of Mobile Storage Systems at Leclanché, remarked: "This project is a breakthrough in the recently introduced mobile storage business. The novel combination of a lithium-ion battery and an electric drive train provided by Leclanché and Visedo has proven to be a true asset in the mobile systems, not only in marine, and we're very satisfied with the alliance with Visedo."

Visedo added that "the market for marine electric vessels is expected to grow from $2.6 billion to $6.3 billion by 2023 due to both the emission regulations and the huge potential of fuel savings".