Newcastle University involved in powering a green future for the maritime industry

A pioneering research project, led by leading UK battery specialist AceOn, has been awarded a £4.6m grant to help power a green future for the maritime industry and establish the UK as a world leader in marine renewable technologies.

The RESTORE project which gets under way in April, sees AceOn leading a consortium of pioneering businesses and organisations - Catapult Offshore Renewable Energy, Engas Global, Liverpool John Moores University, Newcastle University, Taurus Engineering and CAGE.

The Government grant that has been awarded by Innovate UK is to develop ground-breaking ways of converting crew transfer vessels from diesel to battery and hydrogen power. The project will trial a number of ways in which the vessels, used to ferry crew to offshore locations such as windfarms, can be retrofitted with sustainable, green hydrogen and battery technology to remove the need for fossil fuels.

AceOn managing director Mark Thompson said the project brought together a hugely talented team at the cutting edge of innovation who could lead the way in an emerging new market.

The boat being used for the project was based in Blyth, in Northumberland, on the doorstep of a planned new UK gigafactory which would also play an essential part in developing the UK’s battery and electric capacity, he said.

“I can think of no better place to showcase AceOn and our battery expertise, together with the rest of this exciting consortium, than next to the planned 30GW battery plant, which will produce the batteries need to decarbonise the marine sector.

“As well as reducing those maritime emissions, this project can also help close the loop in the offshore wind industry by zeroing the emissions which were previously created by the vessels.”

RESTORE has been awarded the money from the Department of Transport as part of its Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition, which was run in September 2022 by Innovate UK.

AceOn, which is based in Telford, Shropshire, has more than 30 years’ experience in the design and manufacture of custom-built battery packs, supporting the development of new battery technologies and products, and the distribution of industrial and consumer batteries to the worldwide market.

The group has built a reputation as being specialists in solar and battery technology, particularly the development of bespoke, custom-built battery packs. Mark and AceOn have been selected by the UK Government as one of its Export Champions.

By Mark Adair – Correspondent, Bdaily

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