Vehicle-to-Ship: Enhancing the Energy Transition of Maritime Transport With the Synergy of All-Electric Vehicles and Ferries

Energy transition pathways highlighted all-electric ships powered by lithium-ion batteries as a solution for decarbonizing short-sea shipping. The increasing diffusion of electric vehicles (EVs) in the market can enhance the techno-economic performance of battery-powered electric ships. The emerging vehicle-to-grid (V2G) with a bidirectional flow of power provides the power grid access to mobile energy storage, increases the integration of renewable energy sources (RES), decreases electricity costs during peak hours, and creates economic benefits for EV owners, network operators, and energy retailers. The increasing number of EVs, growing research into V2G, and lack of onshore charging stations (OCSs) are key factors that create common ground for integrating vehicle-to-ship (V2S) in short-sea shipping. The V2S provides battery-powered electric ferries (BEF) access to mobile energy storage of the accumulated battery capacity of the EV being transported. The integration of V2S is simulated on the BEF that is navigating on relatively short, medium, and long Croatian ferry routes to cover the entire range of possible practical applications. The simulations considered different monthly occupancy rates (ORs) and state-of-charge (SOC) of the transported EV to indicate the techno-economic feasibility of the V2S. The results demonstrate that V2S has benefits for both the BEF and EV owners.