6 minute read
Making waves in sustainable energy and partnership models
Canada’s first electric lobster fishing boat
On October 13, 2023, Oceans North, a Canadian nonprofit that supports marine conservation in partnership with Indigenous and coastal communities, announced that Canada’s first electric lobster fishing boat, the Lektrike’l Walipotl project, was in its final design stage—the vessel being effectively prepared for Membertou, a Mi’kmaw community in Cape Breton.
Since signing a memorandum of understanding towards this project late last year, Oceans North and Membertou have pioneered development in the vessel energy system alongside regional engineering counterparts, Allswater and BlueGrid by Rimot.
The announcement came only a few weeks after Oceans North released its Nova Scotia Lobster Vessel Electrification Assessment, a report which concluded that about 2,300 lobster boats in the province are suitable to switch from diesel to an electric motor, which would, in turn, aggressively reduce the fishing industry’s emissions.
According to Brent Dancey, Director of Marine Climate Action at Oceans North, the Lektrike’l Walipotl project is the necessary momentum that not only Nova Scotia needs to reduce its own emissions, but Canada needs to reach its goal of net zero emissions by 2050. He’d like to see, by 2030, 10 per cent of the lobster vessels in Nova Scotia running on zero-emission propulsion systems.
Tackling these national-scale technicalities is project-based and comes down to local, meaningful collaboration—much like how Oceans North assembled their report team. Membertou were appointed to the report’s Project Advisory Board for the report in its early research stages.
“Bringing together stakeholders from various aspects of the marine value chain collaboration is really important when looking at decarbonization,” says Dancey. “That’s how you’re going to solve problems—by fostering connections between people who would otherwise not work together.”
The Lektrike’l Walipotl project is as a “proof of concept”—a physical representation of the report’s recommendations in-action, aiding a robust fishery that serves as the backbone of a territorial economy.
Beyond its commercial value, fishing is both a traditional and modern way of life for Membertou. As stewards of the land and waters, Membertou’s involvement in the Lektrike’l Walipotl project is steeped in authenticity and a deep care for working towards a healthier environment.
“Our model has been to create economic opportunities with one goal in mind; to lift our community to a place of fiscal and social stability for generations to come,” says Chief of Membertou, Chief Terry Paul. “Commercial efforts from our Development Corporation directly support our community’s well-being in housing, education, social and beyond. Investing in projects that can create both economic and environmental change for our community is a win-win for us.”
Rimot, otherwise known as BlueGrid, are energy experts that were brought onto the project to help Membertou electrify and decarbonize their fleet.
Trevor Hennigar, P.Eng., COO of Rimot, explains that the project is two-fold. The marine electrification technology acts as a direct solution to emissions reduction, but it also utilizes the boat as energy storage for the community. Limited utility grid storage is a hot topic in the rise of electric energy use, and Rimot brings a direct solution.
“I feel lucky to be helping bring a piece to the puzzle around the vessel energy system sizing and laying the roadmap for more projects like this one,” says Hennigar. “I hope we can leverage this project as proof for future opportunities.”
Although this is the first time an electric propulsion system has been integrated into a commercial lobster vessel, the technology exists in other jurisdictions and boat types. The key to this project is its context, and regional group-based collaboration.
Sharing this forward-looking perspective, Rob Crutcher, CEO and founding member of Allswater, adds that the success of the Lektrike’l Walipotl project has come down to all counterparts having a clear vision of its application.
Allswater, a marine engineering and project management firm based in Bedford, offers design expertise to boat and ship builders and owners. Their driving goal throughout censoring the Membertou fleet was to develop a more sustainable way for the fishery to go about their existing operations.
“We’re not trying to radically change things,” says Crutcher. “We’re looking at how to decarbonize through a better design while continuing to serve the community’s needs and desires.”
This said, safety remains a number one priority. Despite minimizing the amount of diesel that the vessels use, they remain able to withstand the elements and capable of getting back to port whenever necessary.
While traditional ship design just looks at the ship itself, the Lektrike’l Walipotl project deals with the actual vessel—on and offshore—as well as the people behind it.
“We view vessel electrification as a solution for both fishing and utility industries, and a pathway for new partnership models and relationships between fishers and electricity grids,” says Hennigar. “Our goal is to bring our BlueGrid technology products and solutions to other places to help accelerate the transition—not just within Atlantic Canada, but globally.”
Through Rimot’s innovative energy storage technique, and Allswater’s operational attention, Canada’s first electric lobster fishing boat is an engineering feat that is bound to make waves across the nation and beyond.
With the data Allswater collected from monitoring the fishing traps this past season, they were able to create a unique user profile that decoded exactly how the original vessels operated. From there, they’ve been able to size the innerworkings like the new propulsion systems and batteries, as well as exterior details like the surrounding fiberglass structures.
“We know exactly how long these fishers like to go out, how fast they go, and we’re in turn, matching the electrical systems so their day-to-day can flow smoothly,” says Crutcher.
This said, safety remains a number one priority. Despite minimizing the amount of diesel that the vessels use, they remain able to withstand the elements and capable of getting back to port whenever necessary.
While traditional ship design just looks at the ship itself, the Lektrike’l Walipotl project deals with the actual vessel—on and offshore—as well as the people behind it.
“We view vessel electrification as a solution for both fishing and utility industries, and a pathway for new partnership models and relationships between fishers and electricity grids,” says Hennigar. “Our goal is to bring our BlueGrid technology products and solutions to other places to help accelerate the transition—not just within Atlantic Canada, but globally.”
Through Rimot’s innovative energy storage technique, and Allswater’s operational attention, Canada’s first electric lobster fishing boat is an engineering feat that is bound to make waves across the nation and beyond.
“We see this as an opportunity to be leaders in charting a new path in the fishing industry from a vessel perspective,” says Chief Terry Paul. “It’s a chance to test the feasibility of what the future of fishing could be, all the time while keeping a close focus on our environmental impact.”
Read a copy of Oceans North’s ‘Nova Scotia Lobster Fleet Electrification Assessment’: oceansnorth.org/en/resources
