Leclanché SA (SIX: LECN), one of the world's leading energy storage solution companies, announced the market launch of Leclanché Marine Rack System (MRS), a modular, Lithium-ion battery system to reduce marine vessels' harmful emissions and their operating costs.  Leclanché MRS is the first marine battery system of its type approved by international certification body DNV-GL under revised rules issued in October 2015. 

Leclanché will use the MRS on the E-ferry in Denmark, the world's largest, 100 per cent electric ferry by battery capacity, equipped with a 4,3 MWh Leclanché Lithium-ion battery and scheduled for launch later this year.

Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché, said: "There is a huge opportunity for marine vessels across the world to reduce their harmful emissions and cut their operating costs by leveraging battery storage technology. This is why we developed the MRS and we are delighted that it is the world's first such solution to receive type approval from DNV-GL. This certification opens up a very exciting and substantial global market for Leclanché." 

Antti Väyrynen, Vice President E-Transportation, Leclanché, added: "Type approval is an important catalyst to our market growth as it significantly simplifies the certification process of each vessel that uses the Leclanché MRS." 

Safety was one of Leclanché's key focus areas when developing the MRS. The company performed multiple fire propagation tests to ensure that the battery system performed safely, in even the most extreme situations. With the requirement to pass close to 20 separate tests, the DNV-GL certification process sets the benchmark for battery system safety in marine applications.

The E-ferry will be launched in late 2017 sailing between the island Aeroe (Ærø) and the mainland. The emission-free, passenger and car ferry will be able to sail a record 60 nautical miles (110 km) on a single charge. The E-ferry is an EU Horizon 2020 project, the EU's €77 billion transport and energy research and innovation programme from 2014 to 2020. 

In Scandinavia, there is the potential to convert nearly 200 ferry routes to electric within the next decade; Europe-wide over 1,000 ferries could be converted. The Leclanché MRS could also be used in other marine applications including hybridization and peak shaving of auxiliary loads of cargo vessels and cruise ships. In 2015, the global marine hybrid propulsion market was valued at US$2.6bn. It is expected to reach US$5.2bn by 2024, representing a CAGR of 8.2 per cent from 2016 to 2024.

Leclanché | www.leclanche.com