A group of Norwegian maritime companies and research organisations has launched a new project aimed at speeding up the adoption of wind propulsion on commercial ships.

The three-year WINTEGRATE project, led by Kongsberg Maritime and including wind propulsion firms Norsepower and Bound4blue, has secured up to NOK 68 million ($7.3 million) in funding from Norway's Green Platform programme, Kongsberg Maritime said in a press release on Wednesday.

The project will examine how systems such as rotor sails and suction wings can be integrated with a vessel's propulsion, power management, routing, and control systems. Testing will be carried out using vessels operated by Odfjell SE and Seatrans.

The consortium also includes DNV, SINTEF Ocean, SINTEF Digital, StormGeo, OsloMet, Corvus, OMS and DIGICAT.

The partners expect that better integration of wind systems with onboard and weather-routing technologies will improve fuel savings and cut emissions. The work comes as shipping faces tightening regulatory pressure: the IMO has set a goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping by or around 2050, with interim targets for 2030 and 2040, and the EU has brought maritime emissions into its Emissions Trading System from 2024. Wind-assisted propulsion is among the technologies shipowners can deploy to reduce fuel burn without waiting for alternative fuels to reach maturity at scale.

Several shipowners are already adopting wind propulsion systems to reduce their vessels' bunker consumption and emissions. Wind-assisted propulsion systems harness wind power to generate forward thrust, reducing reliance on engine power and consequently lowering a vessel's bunker fuel consumption. Norsepower's rotor sails, based on the Magnus effect, and Bound4blue's suction wings are already installed on a range of commercial vessels including tankers, bulkers and ro-ro ships.

Source: Ship & Bunker