BV Grants Type Approval for Swedish Battery Company

Echandia, a Swedish developer of battery and fuel cell systems, announced it now has its battery system, based on LTO technology, type approved by Bureau Veritas as electrification continues to make inroads in the larger boat, workboat and ferry segments.

"Echandia is the only company in the world to have a certified LTO battery system for marine use in tugboats. It is a breakthrough for safe LTO technology and as tugboats and ferries in local traffic increasingly become battery-powered, the future looks very bright,” said Magnus Eriksson, CEO and founder of Echandia.

Requirements for workboats and passenger ferries are higher than for leisure boats. Oftentimes, they need to be charged quickly and are usually in operation for long periods without interruption. The energy storage systems (ESS) that are being developed are scalable, air-cooled and modular battery systems based on Toshiba's LTO cells, which are the most robust cell chemistry on the market.

The first to use the battery system was the Dutch-based shipbuilding conglomerate Damen, which built one of the first full-size hybridized tugboats.

"This is an important milestone for the new, stable, secure LTO battery technology. Certification for marine battery use is the most difficult to achieve, which is why LTO technology can now be expected to make an impact in several areas. Echandia already has a type-approval for its E-LTO system from DNV," said Jacob Zeidler, project engineer at Echandia.