Yaskawa Environmental Energy receives first order for EBL technology

North Sea Giant, one of the world’s largest subsea construction vessels, has installed an innovative cost-saving solution based on Yaskawa Environmental Energy’s Electronic Bus Link (EBL) technology. The order is the company’s first for the product, whose development team won the Engineering Team of the Year Award at this year’s Electric & Hybrid Marine Awards.

Connecting the vessel’s DC hubs and diesel engines, the EBL is designed to ensure efficient ongoing operations even if a critical fault occurs, by splitting onboard grids in microseconds to isolate faults and protect the complete operational system.

As a result of the installation ¬– which is part of a broader Wärtsilä solution and was installed in Haugesund, Norway, following a rigorous test program supervised by DNV GL – the 18,151 GWT vessel will be able to run just one of its three diesel engines during operations, rather than all three as in the past, resulting in maintenance cost savings, and reduced long-term fuel costs and emissions.

“This is the first vessel in the world approved to run a DP3 class dynamic positioning system with one engine and batteries – a global game changer,” said Asbjørn Halsebakke, general manager, Yaskawa Environmental Energy. “North Sea Giant can now look forward to real cost savings, emissions reduction and reduced operational downtime with the EBL.”