Singapore Launches First Pilot Trial For Electric Harbour Craft Charging Point

The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (abbreviated as the MPA) unveiled the first-ever pilot trial for an electric harbour craft’s charging point based at Marina South Pier on 8 April, offering the maritime industry decarbonization choices.

This came less than two weeks after a local start-up dubbed Pyxis launched X Tron, the first 100% electric vessel that transports crew members to vessels in Singapore’s waters from mainland Singapore.

The charging point was awarded to an alliance between Pyxis Maritime, Pyxis Energy, and SP Mobility. It follows the earlier call for proposals for developing and operating electric harbour craft charging points at different locations following a two-year pilot procedure.

The MPA reported that data insights received from the charging point will be utilized to create a master plan for a national electric harbour craft charging infrastructure, an implementation strategy, and national standards for the charging infrastructure.

Pyxis’ fleet of electric harbour craft operating at the Marina South Pier will be the base offtake to secure optimization of the charging infrastructure and enable extensive data to be collected, the authority summed up.

The 150-kilowatt charger at the Marina South Pier will charge up an electric harbour craft with a battery capacity of about 500kwh in approximately three hours and facilitate an operating range of approximately 50 nm, or roughly 90km.

Users of this charger will have to scan a QR code through the SP app and complete the payment through the app, similar to what users of electric vehicles do, MPA explained.

The authority also added that it is in touch with Enterprise Singapore, other industry stakeholders, and the academia to develop a technical reference for a battery swap system and electric harbour craft charging, with the draft prepared for public consultation by mid-April.

By 2030, new harbour craft must be electric, be able to employ cleaner biofuels or be fully compatible with net-zero fuels like hydrogen.

This is part of a harbour and pleasure craft endeavour to attain net-zero emissions by 2050, which aligns with the national climate initiative.

First Pilot Trial — Image Credits: MPA/Twitter

ELECTRIC HARBOUR CRAFT In addition to prematurely satisfying Singapore’s 2030 and 2050 targets, electric harbour craft are predicted to save total ownership costs compared to conventional vessels, the CEO of Pyxis, Tommy Phun, said.

Dean Cher, SP Group’s head of mobility and sustainable energy solutions, referred to the first public marine charging point located at Marina South Pier and said that it is a small but crucial step in delivering the maritime industry decarbonization options and that could show the way to broader electric harbour craft adoption in Singapore — on the association between Pyxis Energy, SP Mobility, and Pyxis Maritime, Captain M Segar, MPA’s assistant chief executive of operations, said that such a public-private alliance is critical to encouraging broader adoption of electric harbour craft in Singapore.

In Singapore, one of the busiest ports in the world, harbourcraft makes about eight trips each day. X Tron, the maiden vessel from the Pyxis One flagship line, pledges to save nearly 120 kg of carbon emissions each hour compared to a similar diesel vessel.

The Pyxis One is one of the 11 electric harbour craft designs the MPA shortlisted.

Besides the Pyxis and SP Mobility alliance, the authority declared on Monday that it awarded a mobile charging notion proposed by Seatrium O&G and a high-power charger by Yinson Electric.

MPA will continue working with both firms to advance their proposals for broader applications in Singapore.

In the meantime, the authority summarized the 11 shortlisted electric harbour craft layouts, which will be enhanced further and progressively marketed to meet industry demand and help reduce firms’ production costs.

Reference: MPA

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