Vancouver-area company named electric and hybrid supplier of the year
The company, whose products have marine, oil and gas and port applications, has 55 customers around the world.
Andrew Morden, CEO of Corvus Energy stands beside a bank of their heavy-duty industrial batteries capable of powering large ferries and other marine vessels. — Photo by Greg Matson
Corvus Energy was recently named the supplier of the year at the 2016 Electric and Hybrid Marine Awards that were held at the Electric and Hybrid Marine World Expo in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.
It is the second year in a row that the Richmond, B.C., company has won the award. “We at Corvus are extremely delighted to have been selected once again as supplier of the year by the judging panel,” said Corvus CEO Andrew Morden in an announcement at the award ceremony. “Although it has become an industry full of new entrants, our determination and experience in building the best marine ESS (energy storage system) products has been consistently recognized by industry experts.”
Corvus Energy's products save fuel and reduce maintenance costs for the company's marine customers. — Photo courtesy Corvus Energy
Founded in 2009, Corvus Energy says it is the industry leader in advanced lithium ion energy storage systems for maritime hybrid and fully electric propulsion systems. The company, whose products have marine, oil and gas, and port applications, has 55 customers around the world. “Our products are for off-shore and in-shore vessels–ships, drill rigs and port equipment, such as cranes,” said vice-president for strategic marketing Sean Puchalski. “We compete in a global market, and our products are sold all over the world.”
Most of Corvus’s customers are located in Europe and China. “The biggest benefits for our European customers are that our products save fuel and reduce maintenance costs,” said Puchalski. “In China, the main attraction is pollution reduction.” In addition, the batteries are safe and inexpensive to install. “They have the longest battery life span for your dollar on the market,” said Puchalski.
Corvus Energy CEO Andrew Morden is proud to be part of an award-winning company. — Photo courtesy Corvus Energy
While Corvus was receiving its award at the Amsterdam exhibition, it also launched its Orca ESS product line of heavy-duty industrial batteries for a variety of marine customers. Orca Energy is for applications that require large amounts of energy, such as ferries and merchant vessels. Orca Power, on the other hand, is designed for such applications as offshore supply vessels and port equipment. Together, Orca Energy and Orca Power are designed to scale for applications of all sizes, up to and beyond 10 megawatt hours.
The Orca product line includes a number of safety and operational innovations, Corvus says. Both Orca Energy and Orca Power contain technology with cell-level thermal runaway isolation, to prevent possible battery damage or failure. This feature eliminates the need for active cooling techniques, such as liquid cooling. In addition, blind-mate power connections eliminate the need for cables and manual connections, resulting in increased reliability and safety and reduced installation costs.
The Fisheries and environmental research vessel MS Johan Hjort has benefited from the Orca Energy product line. — Photo courtesy Corvus Energy
Shortly after the Orca Energy ESS product release, Corvus announced that it had been selected by Grovfjord Mek.Verksted AS (GMV) to power a fish farm support vessel called GMV ZERO. GMV will use Orca Energy ESS to support the vessel’s entire energy requirements for a zero emission fish farm operation. The Norwegian company manufactures aluminum work boats for the fish-farming industry.
At around the same time as the GMV deal was announced, Orca Energy was selected by Halvorsen Power System AS for the retrofit of the fisheries and environmental research vessel MS Johan Hjort. The 64-metre research vessel is equipped for fisheries and environmental research and will operate mainly in Norwegian waters. Halvorsen’s core business is system integration, with specialties in the power grid network, frequency converters and automation systems.
Puchalski said Corvus’s goal is to become the dominant supplier in the global offshore, oil and gas, marine and port markets. “The biggest challenge facing us is to bring down the cost of our storage systems,” he said. To that end, Corvus recently signed a multi-year agreement with LG Chem Ltd. (LG Chem), which manufactures advanced lithium ion batteries. Under the agreement, LG Chem will be a key supplier of lithium ion pouch cells for Corvus’s Orca ESSs. In an announcement, Corvus said the partnership builds on LG Chem’s research and development, manufacturing and supply chain “and ensures access for Corvus to the most cost-effective, high quality cells available today and into the future.”
