MERC Guide

Where a process or piece of equipment uses fossil fuels look to electrify it so that you can use electricity. Electrification means that piece of equipment can now be driven from all sorts of energy stores.

• Grid power
  This gets cleaner every year and is already much better than any fossil fuel.

• Renewable GreenPower
  You can purchase 100% renewable GreenPower from the grid to ensure you minimise emissions.

• Behind the meter solar power
  Use your own solar panels to give you clean energy.

• Behind the meter battery storage
  Use your own battery storage to let you store solar power, or grid power, at times when it is cheap and use it when it would otherwise be expensive.

The sorts of electrification you can consider is:

• Systems analysis
  Getting expert analysis of your organisation’s needs, to help you plan where to go electric first.

• Retrofitting with electric propulsion
  Swapping petrol outboards for electric ones, or refitting a diesel inboard for battery-electric propulsion is viable. For some vessels it makes sense to take a hybrid-electric approach with diesel as a range extender, or for some operational modes.

• Newbuild with electric propulsion
  Buying a new vessel can be the most effective way to ensure you get the performance you need from a battery-electric, or hybrid-electric propulsion system.

• Replacing generators with batteries
  Where you have had generators to provide mobile electricity, you can now use batteries.

• Electric machines
  Where machines have been driven by hydraulic or pneumatic power, often provided by an engine, you can now use electric motors.

• Electric infrastructure
  Creating the technical environment to support electrification at scale, such as microgrids, charging infrastructure and local batteries.