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Wind-assisted ship propulsion (WASP) has progressed from a perceived blue sky technology to one of the potential key elements in decarbonising the future of maritime shipping. A lot has been said about this group of technologies that harness wind power to thrust a vessel forward and their potential for reducing emissions and fuel costs. One of the most memorable studies was released by CE Delft back in 2017, which found that in 2030, the market potential could amount to around 3,700 to 10,700 installed systems on bulkers and tankers. While wind propulsion has been used for centuries, recent technological advances have made it more viable for modern shipping. Last year saw activity ramp up to a new level with owners opting for their first pilots, with possible newbuilds and retrofits planned, depending on their success. This demand has also seen several different designers bring new concepts to market and roll them out in pilots. Hasso Hoffmeister, senior principal engineer at class society DNV, reckons there are very favorable winds for WASP in 2023, where we could see records set, with some projections indicating that the number of installations will double. The industry started this year with 23 large vessels installed with wind propulsion systems and four others wind-ready bringing the total deadweight tonnage up to 1.4m, according to Gavin Allwright secretary general of wind propulsion promoters International Windship Association (IWSA). With sail power rebooted, forecasts for the rest of this year (possibly slipping slightly into Q1 2024) total 24 new installations, bringing the combined total to well over 3m dwt across around 50 vessels, primarily bulkers and general cargo vessels. "2023 - 2024 could be breakout years for planning and ordering wind-assisted propulsion systems on ships due to commercial and regulatory drivers," says Panos Koutsourakis, ABS director of global sustainability. Stephanie Lesage, general counsel and corporate secretary at France-based wind propulsion developer Airseas, stresses that regulations such as the EU ETS and the IMO’s CII "send a strong signal that shipping must reduce its emissions today" and this regulatory framework is set to become more stringent, demanding that ships become more energy-efficient over time. Bureau Veritas (BV) Marine & Offshore’s technology leader for sustainable shipping, Aude Leblanc, also agrees that the current context, namely high fuel prices combined with the lack of availability of alternative fuels and the entry into force of regulations that mandate emissions reductions, should benefit the wind propulsion sector. The technology, which includes rigid sails, kite sails, and modernised Flettner rotors among others, basically works in one of two ways: either it maintains the same ship speed for reduced engine power, meaning reduced fuel consumption, costs and CO2 emissions; or it increases ship speed for the same engine power, which should in practice reduce voyage times and, potentially, increase ship profitability. WASP tech developers are largely supportive of the hype created in the past and believe that many more wind-propelled vessels will be launched in the next few years. "We are seeing significant interest in our systems for both newbuild and retrofit, and with the elevated price of energy and stricter environmental regulations, we think that the need for solutions that help shipowners, operators and charterers reduce their emission intensity today are not going away, and we are convinced that 2023 will be a crucial year for the take-up of wind propulsion systems," Kim Diederichsen, CEO of British supplier of rotor sails Anemoi, tells Splash Extra. Lesage from Airseas finds that a growing part of the industry now sees wind propulsion as more than a "nice to have," but as a must and an essential component of their long-term decarbonisation strategy, pointing to major shipping players such as COSCO, MOL, K Line and Cargill among the ranks of wind propulsion backers. John Cooper, chief executive of BAR Technologies, which will debut its WindWings on a Cargill-chartered bulker in a few months’ time, naturally believes in the hype surrounding the technology as the company is witnessing the demand firsthand. He has observed greater regulatory alignment on the adoption of low carbon technologies, which he believes will drive the uptake of WASP solutions for retrofits and provide a clear roadmap for greener, newbuild fleets in the future. Cooper believes charterers will also play a big role in this as "they will undoubtedly make the switch to greener ships and therefore owners will be challenged into making the best investment decisions for green technology." BV’s Leblanc estimates 2023 will be a decisive year for wind propulsion, which must demonstrate its safety, efficiency and ease of use on today’s large merchant ships. "This will be essential to securing the involvement of various stakeholders, including designers, shipowners, financiers and insurers, which are needed to encourage the wider adoption of the technology," she asserts. For Hiroshi Shibako, general manager of the technical solution department at the Japanese class society ClassNK, implementation of this technology is more feasible today as technical issues for the safety of wind propulsion systems and their installations on ships, including structural integrity and operational reliability of the systems as well as their effects on ships have been extensively identified. Cristina Aleixendri, co-founder and COO of Spanish suction sails maker bound4blue, claims that wind propulsion has never actually been a hype. "We are just going back to the origins but doing it in a way that it’s profitable for the industry and adapted to their current requirements,” she maintains. Whether 2023 will be a breakout year for wind propulsion, IWSA’s Allwright says that to ascertain if there is hype to be believed or not, we have to clearly focus on what is potentially being overblown. "A breakout year is a bold statement and we have heard quite a few false dawn statements in our industry in the past, enough for any seasoned maritime observer to take these pronouncements with a good pinch of salt,” he says. Allwright notes that if we are focusing on the dissemination and diffusion of wind propulsion know-how and experience, then "this is certainly gaining a head of steam". Dispersion of wind propulsion projects from Europe to Asia and elsewhere is also gaining momentum with hundreds of jobs being created and hundreds of millions being invested in production lines and installations worldwide. However, he points out that many will focus on the number of installations themselves and the scaling of those across the fleet - "Well that needle is also moving quite solidly in the right direction," he says. "Does that warrant a label of breakout? Well possibly, but more importantly these circa 50 ships combined will deliver a huge amount of data, demonstrate the technology more widely and lead to further optimisation and interest in the robust R&D pipeline of technologies coming through over the coming couple of years too," he notes., stressing:"If these indicators signify a breakout year then there is no hype to believe in, it is just counting." Headwinds The romantic idea of reviving the age of sail is facing the harsh realities of a modern, narrow-margin, highly-regulated and competitive industry. While wind propulsion systems are expected to become more affordable in the future, they are still expensive investments, and shipping, which has traditionally been conservative, has yet to embrace this back to the future technology. "Part of the industry is simply waiting for the future engines and fuel, without considering wind propulsion - and not even other solutions available today - in its decarbonisation strategies," confirms bound4blue’s Aleixendri. Retrofitting vessels for wind propulsion is said to require structural modifications for reinforcement, including the ship’s anchor and chains, stabilising elements, and steering and manoeuvrability equipment. Bridge visibility may also need to be addressed. Newbuilds must include several new design features onboard that differ from classic vessel design to prepare the ship to use wind propulsion, including optimising deck space, adapting hull shape, and positioning the bridge platform near the front of the ship. Studies have also shown that the economics heavily depend on wind conditions, ship types and shipping routes. ABS’ Koutsourakis also notes that predicting and verifying the performance of WASP systems can be challenging due to the complexity and limited data availability, but that a lot has been done to develop various methods and tools to address these challenges and advance the adoption of WASP technology. "Uptake of the systems should depend on factors such as cost-effectiveness in terms of both capital and operational expenses, and sustainability consciousness," says ClassNK’s Shibako. It is no secret shipowners find going back to the wind a risky gamble, especially as those supporting alternative fuels continue to question it as a power source. Wade Allison, emeritus professor of physics at the University of Oxford, tells Splash Extra that teenage-level physics is enough to assure that the energy available from the wind is 1,000 times weaker than from fossil fuels that themselves are 1m times weaker than nuclear. And that is before the 75% absenteeism of wind. "Forget the brilliant technology of a gold mine that is deployed where there is no gold. Speculative technology within the possibilities of natural science is great and exciting, but betting that nature is breaking its own centuries-old rules will end in tears. So a sailing boat is great but even the ancients needed teams of slaves much of the time, but then slaves became unacceptable, like carbon today," warns Allison. Responding to Allison’s claims, Allwright acknowledges that wind propulsion is tied to the natural cycle of the winds as opposed to the vagaries of a volatile fuel market. "Of course, wind-assist and primary wind vessels are always hybrid systems, with an engine as either the prime or auxiliary mover for the vessel as stipulated in minimum power requirements. However, very substantial amounts of power can be derived from these wind systems, indeed often too much wind energy is delivered to the vessel and could be harvested onboard as electricity, in turn being stored or converted into fuel onboard to be used when the wind doesn’t blow," he explains. Allwright notes further that developers have become very good at predicting and mapping the wind and that, whether it is a 5-20% propulsion retrofit system or up to an 80%+ primary wind vessel operating on windier routes, this is all delivered for free directly to the vessel, using technology that is available today and as retrofits can be re-used on other vessels at the end of their life. "If somebody told us that there is a fuel that is free, 100% renewable, available worldwide at point of use and that we don’t need to store it or make huge investments to reconvert our fleet, wouldn’t it be perfect?" asks Aleixendri from bound4blue. She admits that not all ships can benefit from this technology, but also finds that there is a huge misconception around this technology. "People tend to think that these systems are expensive," she adds, emphasising that not all wind propulsion systems work the same way and may not even present the same efficiencies and prices even if they fall within the same category. For her, burning fuel has no payback at all, while installing suction sails, for example, is a profitable investment that can be recouped in less than five years, and from then on, she says, owners get free "fuel". BV’s Leblanc reckons that moving forward, the industry will also need to rethink regulatory frameworks, which are currently based on fuel and conventional mechanical propulsion. "This can complicate the process when considering a wind-assisted ship, as requests for exemptions from the flag may be necessary," she says, elaborating further that owners and charterers may need to adjust their operations, as operating a wind-powered or assisted ship in the same way as a conventional vessel does not necessarily make the most efficient use of wind. "Owners and charterers will have to consider a new way of thinking about efficiency in terms of propulsion power, not solely fuels." IWSA sees the remaining barriers primarily found in finance, business models and understanding of how the systems operate, their potential and operational considerations such as port operations, extreme weather and emergency handling procedures. For Allwright, one of the key remaining barriers is the perception of wind among decarbonisation pathway developers and policymakers, who are still reluctant to fully embrace this energy source. "That transition,” he says, “still requires a breakout in thought processes away from a narrow fuel-centric approach to embracing a wider, more holistic energy-centric approach." Compete or complement Tuomas Riski, CEO of Finnish marine wind propulsion system designer Norsepower, warns that waiting could be an expensive choice for shipowners as the “perfect storm” of high alternative fuel prices, incoming environmental regulation and increasing customer demand for cleaner voyages applies pressure to find proven solutions. Almost all WASP developers admit alternative fuels will be needed in the future, but at the same time stress that, those fuels are expected to cost between three to 10 times more. "In the end, having a technology that reduces fuel cost will increase a shipowner’s benefit," claims Aleixendri, adding that those that are just waiting for a magic alternative fuel to come up at a reasonable price will lose a “huge opportunity”, and are inevitably “doomed to failure". BAR Tech’s Cooper maintains that, although there may be further innovations in fuel types in the future, the timeline for these products to become commercially available at scale is significantly longer than the retrofit of existing vessels, or the minor adaptation of newbuild types to include wind technology. "One thing is for sure – the new fuels will be vastly more expensive than the current ones. This actually means that WASPs are an enabler of new fuels in that you require much less of them making the transition a more affordable one, he says. Airseas, whose automated kite system Seawing stars on Louis Dreyfus Armateurs’ roro chartered by Airbus, also argues that we should not see wind power and zero-emission fuels as competing solutions – instead, they complement each other. "The reality is that the ship of the future will need both clean technologies and new fuels, and the former will actually facilitate the introduction of such fuels," finds Lesage. For her, savings created by energy efficiency technology will make a significant difference on shipowners’ bottom lines when they start to use new, less energy-dense fuels, while "the hill will be steeper" for those who have failed to reduce their energy consumption through available technology. Furthermore, Lesage points out that emissions reductions delivered by wind propulsion systems could also make the difference between keeping vessels trading or seeing assets stranded as energy efficiency regulation such as CII becomes progressively tighter. "Tackling climate change is a team sport, and no solution has a monopoly on decarbonisation. Increased R&D, better routing, smarter regulation, retrofits, and new fuels are all part of the solution," she says. Lesage proposes that one of the most impactful changes that regulators could make today would be to start treating wind power as a propulsion source, rather than an efficiency measure. "Current regulatory frameworks are largely based on fuels, and this is where the bulk of incentives, regulatory scrutiny and funding is focused. As the IMO and the EU review their flagship emission reduction strategies, it is essential that they adopt an energy-centric rather than a fuel-centric approach," she insists. Meanwhile, Riski finds that to take wind propulsion mainstream the industry still needs to solve the challenges of split incentives and to collaborate with financiers to re-evaluate how ROI and payback periods are calculated. "This isn’t just an issue for wind – it’s critical that commercial agreements evolve quickly to reflect the nuances of modern shipping to reach the goal of zero carbon emissions," he says. DNV’s Hoffmeister says WASP systems have already delivered fuel savings of between 4.5% and 9%, according to vessel owners and operators, and have the potential to reach 25% if installed as a retrofit. The margins could be even higher in newbuilds if a vessel is specifically designed to carry sail systems. There are still challenges to more widespread adoption, but these generally fall under the category of "horses for courses", he adds. "So, believe the hype! And while we’re not seeing a return to the age of sails, the same principles are being used but with new materials, increased automation, and advanced software, to cut fuel consumption and boost vessel efficiency. For WASPs there are definitely favourable winds ahead," concludes Hoffmeister.

Wind power for shipping: nice to have or a must

Will 2023 prove to be a breakout year for wind propulsion? Splash Extra investigates.

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