Smart Transformer for Enhanced Efficiency and Sustainability in Maritime Transportation

The STEESMAT project aims to develop a set of technologies and methodologies that will enable the deployment of onboard DC grids for large vessels.

These solutions are urgently needed to transform the waterborne transport by reducing GHG emissions and allow Europe to reach the environmental targets established for 2030 and 2050.

STEESMAT project proposes the design, development, demonstration, and approval of a highly efficient plug& play power electronic system based on solid state-transformer technology, a secondary low voltage DC grid architecture and components for integration of fuel cells and batteries as well as a new smart management and control system based on Artificial Intelligence to increase energy efficiency of large ships.

New standards will be established for the DC grid.

The system developed will be validated (DNV approved) for market deployment as well as fully tested in lab (individual elements) and then integrated for testing and validation in a relevant environment at the Energy House (a full-scale onshore test centre for testing future fuels for maritime applications) and demonstrated in a real environment through integration in the RV NorthStar Research ship that will operate in real conditions over 30 days.

The STEESMAT consortium’s goal is to bring to the market the first power electronic system based on SST that completely meets the needs and expectations of large-scale (high powered) ships.The STEESMAT consortium is composed by companies with industrial/commercial interest in the project results: Wärtsilä (NO), Eaton (DE, CZ), Danfoss (FI), The Switch Engineering (FI) and DNV (DE), supported by research institutions (Fraunhofer (DE), Université de Technologie de Belfort-Montbéliard (FR), Lappeenranta – Lahti University of Technology (FI), Norges Teknisk-Naturvitenskapelige Universitet (NO)) and other non-profit organizations like Maritime Cleantech (NO), Sustainable Energy (NO) and Open Direct Current Alliance (DE).