Washington State Ferries’ first plug-in hybrid-electric vessel, Wenatchee, has entered service after what appears to have been a challenging retrofit process
Wenatchee returned to service on 18 July and will run in the evenings on the /Bainbridge route, before returning to full-time service in the next few weeks.
Washington State Department of Transportation practical solutions manager Stan Suchan has been quoted as saying in media reports, “We have a lot to learn from this experience and room for improvement moving forward. Modifying existing vessels for new technology is inherently challenging because you must work within as-built conditions. This is particularly challenging on the first conversion of a vessel in its class.”
Wenatchee is one of WSF’s three Jumbo Mark II-class vessels, the largest in its fleet, with capacity for 2,499 passengers and 202 vehicles. In 2023, as part of WSF’s US$4Bn electrification plan, Wenatchee went to Vigor Marine to be converted to hybrid electric.
“The Wenatchee conversion is a testament to the innovation, craftsmanship and dedication of our workforce, as well as our successful partnership with Washington State Ferries,” said Vigor Marine Group executive vice president and head of maintenance and modernization Pacific, Adam Beck. “By building on decades of experience supporting the US Navy and other government and commercial customers, our skilled employees at Vigor rose to the challenge and completed a complex conversion.”
Over the course of nearly 21 months, approximately 700 employees worked on the project. All nearly 600 craft production workers were union-represented skilled tradespeople.
Key work completed at Vigor included removing two diesel generators, constructing two battery rooms housing 864 battery modules, installing new propulsion control systems, running new electric and fibre optic cable, and upgrading onboard systems and passenger areas.
The conversion is part of WSF’s long-term System Electrification Program, which aims to modernise six existing ferries and build 16 new hybrid-electric ferries by 2040. Once completed and using shore charging, Wenatchee, Tacoma and Puyallup – collectively known as the Jumbo Mark II class – will help cut WSF’s diesel consumption by over 17.8M litres annually and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from these vessels by roughly 95%.
Design and integration of the new battery-hybrid system and propulsion controls were led by Siemens Energy.
Wenatchee is now the largest US passenger ferry to be electrified.
