AWESOME
Cutting emissions and fuel costs via WAPS
Running
The EU project AWESOME (Advanced Wind Energy System Optimisation & Monitoring for Efficiency) will provide shipowners with verified data, practical tools and standardised methods to assess wind-assisted propulsion, helping reduce investment risk and accelerate emissions reduction in shipping.
Background
Wind assisted propulsion can cut fuel use and emissions, but shipowners still need reliable data before investing at scale. With EU support, a new European initiative will help close that gap through full scale demonstrations, verified data and decision support tools.
The Horizon Europe-funded project AWESOME will provide shipowners with verified performance data, practical tools and standardised methods for assessing wind assisted propulsion.
The Horizon Europe-funded project AWESOME will provide shipowners with verified performance data, practical tools and standardised methods for assessing wind assisted propulsion.
Objective
The aim of AWESOME is to reduce uncertainty, lower investment risk and accelerate the use of cost-effective emission reduction solutions in shipping. The project brings together industry and research to support the transition to low- and zero-emission shipping. AWESOME tackles technical, operational and regulatory barriers that still limit wider deployment of wind propulsion.
AWESOME will test how wind propulsion can be integrated with onboard systems, control and automation in real operating conditions. The work will support compliance with frameworks such as FuelEU Maritime and future IMO standards, while helping shipowners reduce fuel consumption before relying on more costly low carbon fuels.
AWESOME will test how wind propulsion can be integrated with onboard systems, control and automation in real operating conditions. The work will support compliance with frameworks such as FuelEU Maritime and future IMO standards, while helping shipowners reduce fuel consumption before relying on more costly low carbon fuels.
Contact
Rogier Eggers
senior project manager
Approach
For many shipowners, the main barrier is uncertainty about performance, payback time and operational impact. The AWESOME partners will address this by delivering validated performance data and decision-support tools that make decisions easier to assess.Two full-scale demonstrators will be central to the work: one retrofit and one newbuild. The retrofit case, Bow Olympus from Odfjell Management, will show how wind propulsion can be integrated into existing vessels. The newbuild, Neoliner Origin from Neoline, will demonstrate how the technology can be optimised from the design stage.
Together, the vessels will provide robust real-world data across vessel types and operating conditions, helping the industry reduce risk and accelerate deployment at scale.
European partners
AWESOME brings together 15 leading European partners spanning the full maritime value chain. This broad partnership supports an end-to-end approach, from design and simulation to onboard control, crew training, performance verification and market uptake. The project is supported by ~ 9 million Euro from Horizon Europe. Partners are:- Technology developers and system integrators: Kongsberg Maritime (NO) (Coordinator), Syroco (F), bound4blue (ES), Chantiers de l’Atlantique (F)
- Shipowners and operators: Odfjell Management (NO), NEOLine (F)
- Research partners: SINTEF Ocean (NO), SINTEF Digital (NO), NTUA (G), MARIN (NL)
- Design and engineering: MAURIC (F)
- Classification and verification: DNV (NO & DE)
- Center for decarbonisation and dissemination: Maritime CleanTech (NO)
Interested?
For more information contact Rogier Eggers.Bow Olympus
Odfjell’s 49,000 DWT chemical tanker has been retrofitted with four 22-metre eSAIL® suction sails from bound4blue. The vessel has already demonstrated fuel savings of around 20% on selected voyages, making it a strong platform for improving WAPS control, onboard monitoring and crew training.
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Neoliner Origin
The world’s first hybrid commercial RoRo sailing vessel is designed around two 76-metre SOLIDSAIL rigs from Chantiers de l’Atlantique. With a target of up to 80% lower emissions, it represents a new generation of wind-powered deep-sea cargo transport.