Rising fuel prices, environmental pressures, and regulations including energy efficiency design index (EEDI), energy efficiency existing ship index (EEXI) and carbon intensity indicator (CII) are starting to drive the decarbonization of shipping. Consequently, wind propulsion is revitalized to help reduce CO2 emissions. But under which scenarios does wind propulsion make business sense? And how important is the modelling of the wind assistant propulsion system (WAPS) aerodynamics and the vessel hydrodynamics to evaluate the business case. For the example of a Capesize bulk carrier the economic viability of installing a WAPS is assessed by studying the impact of several parameters. A performance prediction program is set up for a Capesize bulk carrier. Several modelling parameters such the hull side force, propulsive efficiency, WAPS aerodynamic coefficients and force balance degrees-of-freedom are varied to investigate their impact on the resulting WAPS savings. The impact of the WAPS savings is compared with the effect of other parameters driving the economic viability. The impact of WAPS cost, routes, vessel speed and fuel price is investigated to determine the main drivers of the business case. The paper shows the dominant drives for the business case of wind power on a bulk carrier and the role the performance prediction model plays. Understanding the impact of these parameters helps in the decision making and reduces the investment risk.
Decarbonization; wind propulsion; WAPS; performance prediction; bulk carrier; business case
