By Huang Zhaoxia, CCS Wuhan Rules & Research Institute

The green transformation in transportation field has become a trend in recent years . The  shipping industry is turning to electric  ships for green development since they have such advantages as green, environment-friendly, able to realize zero emission . In addition, electric ships are safe, convenient, high efficiency and low-cost, without diesel leakage . Hence, they are an effective choice for green transformation of inland waterway shipping .

Currently, China continues to improve the independent research and development capabilities of battery electric ships, has broken through many key technologies and reached the world’s advanced level . There are pilot applications in passenger ships, ferries, official  ships and bulk carriers,showing good demonstration results . So far, more than 190 battery electric ships for inland waterways have been built, and more than 60 are under construction or planned to be built . The application types include passenger  ships, ferries, public  service ships and dry bulk carriers, all of which use lithium iron phosphate batteries as power .

The White Paper on the Development of China Electric  Ship Industry  (2021) show that, the penetration rate of lithium batteries in ships is expected to reach 0 .55% and 18 .5% in 2022 and 2025, respectively . The market scale of electric ships in China will be on the rise . Before loaded onboard, lithium batteries must be tested and certified by CCS, and battery plants and raw materials must be  strictly  checked .  As  of March 2022,  CCS  had  is s ued  83 type approval certificates for lithium battery products, and the certified products cover battery cells, modules, BMS and battery packs .

Through many years of efforts, CCS has had a strong capacity in the  application and development of battery powered ships, and has full time staffs responsible for this product, and they all have rich filed practice experience and good abilities of theoretical analysis and practical application . Therefore, CCS is able to provide technical support and safety guarantee for the application of lithium batteries to ships .

Under the target of “carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality”, the urgent demand  for  the  application  of battery powered ships and the requirement for the safe and healthy development of battery powered ships, CCS has overall promoted the  research  on  the  safety  of applying batteries to ships in recent two years . It is further constructing the digital rule and standard system framework of “one rule and one platform” for battery powered ships .