Testing Boat-to-Grid technology toward marine electrification

Volvo Penta is taking a multi-faceted approach on its path toward decarbonization at sea, where innovation plays a key role. In collaboration with Varberg Energi and Ferroamp, Volvo Penta is testing Boat-to-Grid (B2G) technology to explore the potential of enabling hybrid and electric vessel batteries to support the electrical grid. The stepwise approach aims to explore, learn, and test how this innovation could contribute to accelerating marine leisure electrification in the long term.

Leisure boats are often stored on land for long periods of the year. For electric boats or boats equipped with hybrid electric propulsion, their batteries can be used for energy storage – and therefore contribute to the electrical grid with the potential to become a valuable resource for stabilizing and supporting the grid in the future. This Boat-to-Grid (B2G) technology, already available for vehicles, is now being tested and explored in a marine application by Volvo Penta and partners Varberg Energi and Ferroamp.

“Generally speaking, a leisure boat is in the water for about four months a year and is used for only 40 to 60 hours per season. That’s less than 1% of the year. If we can turn that boat into an asset and use its battery for the grid, it’s a significant opportunity for both boat owners and the grid,” says Niklas Lundin, Project Manager for Technology Exploration at Volvo Penta.

To test the B2G technology, energy company Varberg Energi has developed an app to facilitate grid connection. Once the boat is on land and connected to a charger, Varberg Energi can manage the energy flow by charging, discharging, and connecting the battery to the different energy markets during the winter season, when the boat would otherwise be stored on land.

“This solution can be applied globally. The challenges of grid stability and environmental impact are universal, and this technology has worldwide potential,” says Mats Balkö, Business Area Manager of Innovation & Sustainability at Varberg Energi.

The charger technology used in this demo – a bidirectional DC charger that allows power to flow in two directions – is provided by greentech company Ferroamp.

“One of the unique features is that the charger is connected to a DC grid. We are also reusing some of the complex components, like the inverter, required to feed energy into the grid. So far, we’ve learned that this is a viable technology,” says Björn Jernström, Founder and Chief Technology & Innovations Officer at Ferroamp.

The final goal of this collaboration is to continue testing and exploring the Boat-to-Grid technology while identifying the business models that would be needed for it to become an offer in the future.

“This collaboration helps us build a fundamental understanding of the technology and its ecosystem. It also offers insights into the business models required. Ultimately, our aim is to explore solutions on the path toward decarbonization at sea,” concludes Niklas Lundin.