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Swiss battery manufacturer Leclanché has been selected as a battery system supplier to the world's largest battery operated ferryboat, to be built by Danish shipbuilder Søby Shipyard Ltd.

The ferry is scheduled to be placed in service in June 2017 for the transportation of vehicles and passengers between the island of Ærø and the Danish mainland.

Leclanché is a joint partner in the project and has agreed to deliver a full-electric drive train to the ferry with its partner Visedo.

The vessel shall be equipped with a 4.2 MWh battery system from Leclanché and is set to be the world's largest ferry in terms of battery capacity.

As one of the top 5 projects in the EU Horizon 2020 initiative, a program with a total budget of 21 million euros, the initiative forms part of the Danish Natura project, which is designed to guarantee local people green transportation in these areas.

In a statement, Leclanché said: "The ferry will be state-of-the-art design and achieve superior efficiency thanks to optimized weight and hull shape and an electric propulsion equipment. CO2 emissions will be reduced by 2000 tons and NOx by 41.5 tons per year compared with an existing diesel ferry. The silent electric motors will also reduce emitted noise level and the new vessel will reduce wake waves right behind the ferry by 60-70% which allows navigation in the shallow Danish Natura areas. A record breaking charging power of up to 4 MW allows short port stays and efficient operation."

Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché, commented: "We are very excited to be involved in this groundbreaking project as a battery supplier. I am delighted to see Ærø Island utilizing the frontline technology and EU supporting such a pioneering activity. This new contract, following the confirmation of the large order for the Project Graciosa, gives also further validation of Leclanché's strong execution of its business plan and growth strategy."

Martti Ukkonen, EVP of Mobile Storage Systems at Leclanché, added: "This project is a breakthrough in the recently introduced mobile storage business. The novel combination of a lithium-ion battery storage system and an electric drive train provided by Leclanché and Visedo has proven to be a true asset in the mobile system market, and not only in marine segment. We are extremely satisfied with our strategic alliance with Visedo."

Last month, on 4 May, Leclanché announced a strategic cooperation agreement with electric drive train specialist Visedo Oy. The Finnish company was approved as leading partner in the project and was said to have been preferred over Siemens.

"The market for marine electric vessels is expected to grow from $2.6 billion to $6.3 billion by 2023 due to both emission regulations and tremendous potential of fuel savings," Leclanché added in the statement.