As the state ferry system ages, the Alaska Department of Transportation is turning to new technologies to update its fleet.
The department is implementing diesel-electric hybrid power on its upcoming Tustumena replacement vessel, which is slated to set sail in 2027. By then, the Tustumena will be 62 years old.
In addition to its diesel engines, the new ferry will feature a “room for housing batteries” that could cut fuel consumption by 1%, according to a Juneau KTOO radio report.
At an Oct. 14 meeting, Brian Jennings, a projects staffer with the department, told the Alaska Marine Highway Operations Board that even small fuel cuts like these can add up in the world of long-distance marine travel. “Over the lifetime of the vessel, that’s a major savings to the state,” he said.
Beyond savings, batteries will bring a wide variety of functional benefits to the new ship. With batteries onboard, the ship will have a “spinning reserve,” which will allow it to run on fewer generators without affecting its propulsion. A spinning reserve “(optimizes) the overall system” and lets batteries “pick up extra load,” according to a webinar by Echandia, a Swedish energy storage company that works in the maritime industry.
On rough waters, the ship can also pull additional power from its battery backup reserves in a process called “peak shaving.”
The design will allow the vessel to accommodate technological progression during its possible 60-year lifespan. “As battery technology advances, we’ll have the infrastructure in place to expand that,” said Jennings.
According to Sam Dapcevich, the department’s public information officer, the new hybrid ferry design could be used as a test case to explore the possibilities of hybrid power on future vessel replacements. The new ship is “a platform to see how effective (hybrid power) is,” he said. “This would be built in such a way that it could be improved upon in future years.”
The ship’s current cost estimate stands between $200 million and $250 million. Jennings is still uncertain how much the hybrid design will increase the vessel’s price tag, though battery power will not be a “tremendous cost driver.”
The state anticipates that new federal funding will partially cover the cost of the ship and its hybrid components. A November 2021 federal infrastructure bill made $1.6 billion available to ferry systems nationwide, and the majority of that money is likely headed to Alaska, according to a report from the Alaska Journal of Commerce.
The federal money will fund marine infrastructure for the next five years — long enough to last until completion of the Tustumena replacement, but not long enough to cover the Matanuska, which is the next Alaska state ferry in line for replacement.
The replacement vessel will run the same route as the Tustumena, into the Gulf of Alaska, Kodiak and out the Aleutians. The Matanuska, which serves Southeast, was built in 1963.
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