Press Releases

Yverdon-les-Bains, Switzerland, 9 June 2015 – Swiss battery manufacturer Leclanché has been selected as a battery system supplier to the world’s largest battery operated ferryboat to be built by Danish shipbuilder Søby Shipyard Ltd. The ferry will be placed in service in June, 2017 to transportation of vehicles and passengers between island Ærø and the mainland in Denmark.

Leclanché is a joint partner in the project and will deliver a full-electric drive train to the ferry with its partner Visedo. The ferry shall be equipped with a 4.2 MWh battery system from Leclanché being the World’s largest ferry in terms of battery capacity. As one of the Top 5 projects in the EU Horizon 2020 initiative, a program with a total budget of 21 million euros, this initiative is part of the Danish Natura project, which guarantees local people green transportation in these areas.

The ferry will be state-of-the-art design and achieve superior efficiency thanks to optimized weight and hull shape and an electric propulsion equipment. CO2 emissions will be reduced by 2000 tons and NOx by 41.5 tons per year compared with an existing diesel ferry. The silent electric motors will also reduce emitted noise level and the new vessel will reduce wake waves right behind the ferry by 60-70% which allows navigation in the shallow Danish Natura areas. A record breaking charging power of up to 4 MW allows short port stays and efficient operation.

Anil Srivastava, CEO of Leclanché, commented: «We are very excited to be involved in this ground-breaking project as a battery supplier. I am delighted to see Ærø Island utilizing the frontline technology and EU supporting such a pioneering activity. This new contract, following the confirmation of the large order for the Project Graciosa, gives also further validation of Leclanché’s strong execution of its business plan and growth strategy».

Martti Ukkonen, EVP of Mobile Storage Systems at Leclanché, added: «This project is a break-through in the recently introduced mobile storage business. The novel combination of a lithium-ion battery storage system and an electric drive train provided by Leclanché and Visedo has proven to be a true asset in the mobile system market, and not only in marine segment. We are extremely satisfied with our strategic alliance with Visedo».

Earlier on 4 May, 2015 Leclanché’s already announced a Strategic Cooperation Agreement with Visedo Oy. The Finnish ground-breaking innovative electric drive train specialist was approved as leading partner in the project, preferred to an industry giant Siemens.  The market for marine electric vessels is expected to grow from $2.6 billion to $6.3 billion by 2023 due to both emission regulations and tremendous potential of fuel savings.

About Leclanché

Established in 1909 Leclanché has been a reliable partner for battery storage technologies. Founded in the tradition of Georges Leclanché, the inventor of the dry cell battery, Leclanché today has a rich portfolio of Energy Storage Systems that include Specialized Customer-specific Battery Systems to industry leading lithium-ion solutions.

Through the integration of a spin-off of the German Fraunhofer Institute in 2006 the company evolved from a traditional battery producer into one of the first developers and manufacturers of lithium-ion cells in Europe. 

Leclanché’s Storage Solutions are optimized for various applications, in particular for the integration of renewable energy, diesel fuel reduction, electricity grid-connected ancillary services, peak power shaving for heavy industries but also for heavy duty transportation in buses, trams, trains or maritime vessels.

Leclanché products are characterized by a very high cycle stability (cells with titanate anode) and long service life. Thanks to our patented separator technology, which is a core element of lithium ion cells with titanate anode, Leclanché is able to make cells with very good safety characteristics in automated production. Leclanché operates a fully automated plant for the production of large format lithium-ion cells at an annual maximum capacity of up to 175MWh or up to one million cells. 

In addition, Leclanché offers a number of specialized battery systems through its Portable Business Unit, such as customer-specific energy storage systems for military and medical applications. Leclanché also distributes primary and secondary batteries and accessories of other producers.

Leclanché, which is listed on the Swiss stock exchange (SIX:LECN), has a wide range of storage products for homes, small offices, large industries, electricity grids, hybridization for mass transport systems like fleet of buses, trams etc.