PROFILE
ASBJØRN HALSEBAKKE
Yaskawa Environmental Energy/The Switch “Ask who wants a change? Everybody. But ask who wants to change - the answer is usually, ‘nobody’...” Asbjørn Halsebakke told MJ. But change is coming, like it or not. Some segments are responding: his company, Yaskawa Environmental Energy / The Switch is “seeing a lot of interest in electrical power for harbour tugs, especially from places like Singapore - generally they’re more focused on the issues”, he said. Closer to home, the picture is far more mixed: although Norway’s new ferries are mandated for low-to-zero emissions, “O&G platform vessels now seem to have slipped under the radar”. However, he added: “What we are really missing is for the yards to understand the need for this change,” and broaden the “single focus on price”. He pointed out, many households are voluntarily choosing more expensive cars with low running costs, low environmental impact and a better resale value, “but it’s only when pressured that yards will offer truly green solutions for their newbuilds”.
And this is something that “as yet, doesn’t happen enough”. It’s not a lack of ready technology. Halsebakke’s own company makes highly efficient, tried and tested drive trains, from permanent magnet machines to its DC-Hub which can knit together various energy sources, offering future-proof alternatives, reducing fuel and therefore carbon footprint by up to 35% and cutting maintenance costs by between 10 and 20%,” he said. Yes, these solutions are more costly - up front. “I am not naïve,” he underlined. “I understand that shipowners and yards are under financial strain”. But, he added, there’s a different way of seeing it. Owners will be interested in technology that saves OPEX in the longer term and complies with upcoming regulation. Further, “there’s an increase in scope which will pay back”. He also understands the challenge for yards: although “taking on all the changes at once is high risk”, he said, yards will need to make some kind of ‘leap’ to embrace the extra scope. “We are in a technological era when it’s
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actually harder to take a small step”, he explained. For example, implementing a DC grid fundamentally changes the power distribution: trying to hang onto a familiar AC layout won’t normally bear fruit. Given all this, “surely there’s a business opportunity to integrate green technologies, such as The Switch solutions, into their newbuilds, marketing them as responsible and hugely cost-effective assets?” he asked. “Why can’t smart yards differentiate themselves as pioneers in value?” After all, he concluded, rather than just being suppliers that “fulfil orders and forget OPEX” there’s room for yards to become “partners to owners, looking after their business needs, reputations and the environment”. Governments also have a role, as “they can provide incentives while positioning their national industry as the shipbuilders of the future”. “Shipbuilding is a business, and businesses need to make money,” he said. “My argument is the way to do this is not by cutting costs, but rather by providing value.”
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10 | NOVEMBER 2020
24/11/2020 13:47
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