Norsepower gets funding for largest rotor sail

The new rotor sais will be ideally suited for tankers, bulk carriers, large ro-pax, and full size passenger vessels where smaller sails would be unable to achieve the best fuel savings. The new models will be designed to be suitable for ships voyaging globally, including the northern hemisphere and Arctic regions that have not yet seen auxiliary wind propulsion despite having favourable wind conditions.

The record-breaking model is planned to be 30m in height and 5m in diameter, with a maximum main-engine equivalent power output of more than 4MW.

Tuomas Riski, CEO, Norsepower said: “We are extremely grateful to Tekes and to the European Commission. Their decisions are a clear vote of confidence in Norsepower’s ability to realise the commercial potential of our rotor sail solution.”

The rotor sail, which can be installed on new vessels or retrofitted on existing ships without off-hire costs, is a modernised version of the Flettner rotor; a spinning cylinder that uses the Magnus effect to harness wind power to generate forward thrust. The solution is fully automated and senses when the wind is strong enough to deliver fuel savings, at which point the rotors start automatically.

The technology has already been tested commercially, with two small units on Bore’s Estraden, a 9,700dwt ro-ro carrier. Measured and independently verified by NAPA, the leading maritime data analysis, software and services provider, the technology delivered fuel consumption reductions of 6.1% for the vessel.

The sails are typically delivered as part of a full-service solution that includes delivery and maintenance of the hardware and software components. They are made from lightweight composite sandwich materials, offering a simple yet structurally sound solution.