Charging, EMS and propulsion control on battery and hybrid vessels

What I do

The fault often sits between charger, energy management and drive

A battery vessel is three systems that have to agree with each other: the charger that fills the battery, the energy management that decides where the power goes, and the propulsion drives that use it. On a hybrid there is a generator in the mix as well. Each part usually comes from a different supplier, and the fault lives in the handover between them more often than in any single box. That is where I work.

The bigger the battery, the more control there is around it, and the more places a fault can hide. I optimise the charging strategy, tune the energy management so the load sharing does what the specification promised, and set up propulsion control so the vessel responds the way the captain expects. On a new build I commission these systems together with the rest. On a vessel in service I find the fault, fix it and leave the settings documented.

• Optimising charging systems: charge rates, limits and the handshake between charger and battery management
• Tuning energy management on fully battery-powered and hybrid vessels: load sharing, source switching, generator start and stop
• Setting up and troubleshooting propulsion control on battery-electric and hybrid drives
• Tracing faults through the control systems around the battery: insulation monitoring, switch modules, alarms that trip for no clear reason
• Linking battery and energy management to the bridge, so the bridge sees the real state of charge