As electric vehicles become common place in Southeast Alaska, some fishers are wondering if their boats could be the next frontier for electrification. Two pioneers in the region have already invested in electric boats: Bob Varness of Tongass Rain Electric Cruise LLC developed a 6 passenger cruise vessel with electric propulsion and Fabian Grutter of F/V Sunbeam is partway through converting his gillnetter into a hybrid diesel-electric boat (the cog system he uses to couple the motor to the propeller shaft is featured in the image above). The Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) contracted with me to evaluate the cost, fuel savings and feasibility of converting vessels in the region to electric or hybrid propulsion.
My earlier work with ALFA showed how much energy fishing vessels use for propulsion, refrigeration, hydraulic and electrical loads, as well as opportunities to reduce energy demand through efficiency measures. Building on that work, we determined how much battery capacity would be required to satisfy a variety of fishing scenarios, estimated how much fuel could be saved depending on battery capacity, and compiled a library of budgeting quotes from suppliers to determine the approximate equipment cost of several example hybrid or all electric systems. You can check out the full report here.