Italdraghe and Torqeedo announce new emission-free electric drives for commercial and working marine vessels

November 2, 2021, posted by savannahweeda

San Giovanni in Marignano, Italy (2nd November 2021) – Torqeedo and Italdraghe today
announced the joint development of an outboard, retractable electric propulsion system for
commercial and working vessels in inland and urban waterways.

The system combines Italdraghe’s proven and extensively field-tested steerable azimuth thrusters
and Torqeedo’s Deep Blue high-voltage electric power system. It is designed to provide emissionfree power and directional thrust ideal for manoeuvring on environmentally sensitive waterways.
Italdraghe’s azimuth thrusters have been integrated with Torqeedo’s Deep Blue systems in order
to develop two types of electrical rudder propeller, one delivering a continuous power of 50 kW
and a maximum power of 65 kW and the other delivering a continuous power of 100 kW with a
maximum power of 120 kW. The propellers can rotate up to 360° degrees, and the drive units
have a 600 mm depth regulation for operation in shallow water and can be tilted up to 60° degrees
for maintenance without need for deinstallation from the boat.

Italdraghe’s thrusters have been projected and designed in-house to offer the benefit of a
combined propulsion and steering system. Thanks to their trim system, the position of the rudder
propeller can be adjusted according to vessel load and water depth while its hydraulic jack means
that it can be easily raised out of the water for routine inspection and maintenance.
Torqeedo is supplying a 50 kW Deep Blue electric motor/inverter, which integrates with the
Italdraghe thruster. The Torqeedo system also includes one or more Deep Blue high-capacity
lithium-ion batteries, shore power charger, system management unit for energy and power
management and a touch-screen display and throttle.

Engineer Massimo Semprini, Italdraghe’s technical and sales director, said, “Our integrated
electric solution is designed to make the investment to convert existing fleets to electricity even
more economically and ecologically beneficial. We will collaborate closely with Torqeedo’s
application engineers to design and install the ideal system for each application.”
“There are many commercial applications that can be electrified very economically by using this
concept. Our focus is to keep the total cost of ownership low by offering a solution on a system
level, including design-in, service, maintenance and remote diagnostics. This makes electrification
as easy and safe as possible for the shipyard and the fleet operator,” explains Matthias Schubert,
director project sales for Torqeedo.

Semprini and Schubert observed that most commercial fleets in European cities are powered by
decades-old marine diesel engines. Their CO2 emissions are not in line with the international
goals to reduce global warming, and human health is also at risk. Electrification of commercial
fleets in inner-city waterways can be accomplished easily and cost effectively, since vessel
speeds are limited – resulting in lower battery discharge rates – and they typically operate only 8 to
14 hours per day, leaving plenty of time for overnight charging.

The new electric propulsion package will be on display on Stand 4214 at the 2021 Europort
exhibition in Rotterdam 2-5 November.

About Italdraghe

Italdraghe, founded in 1952, designs and constructs dredgers, mining pumps, axial flow pumps,
harvesters and marine equipment, as well as a range of bow thrusters and rudder propellers
ranging from 20 kW to 500 kW. Over the last 60 years the company has supplied plenty of
dredgers for rivers, lakes, dams, canals, ports, mines and quarries. Beside dredgers, Italdraghe
provides dredging solutions designed to satisfy specific customers’ needs in order to enable
clients to execute complex projects. Italdraghe products fit a wide range of applications such as
maritime, metallurgical, mining, coal power and building material industries.
https://www.italdraghe.com/

About Torqeedo

Torqeedo is the market leader for electric mobility on the water. Founded in 2005 in Starnberg, the
company develops and manufactures electric and hybrid drives from 0.5 to 100 kW for commercial
applications and recreational use. Torqeedo products are characterized by an uncompromising
high-tech focus, maximum efficiency and complete system integration. Torqeedo is part of DEUTZ
Group, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of innovative drive systems. www.torqeedo.com