Hybrid Repower for Washington State Ferry Wenatchee
Washington State Ferry (WSF) Jumbo Mark II class ferry Wenatchee underwent a successful Eagle Harbor, Bainbridge Island delivery on June 2 after a hybrid-electric power conversion by Vigor Shipyard Seattle. The 30-year-old, 202-car ferry is currently the largest ferry in the United States to be converted to run on electric power.
“We’re out here on the Wenatchee as you can see,” said Steve Nevey, Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) Deputy Secretary of WSF in an online video post from deck during the delivery. “It’s really exciting. I was just down in the engine room and for the first time they loaded up the engines on diesel power and then flicked over to battery power. The boat kept running on full battery mode with no interruption. We’re out here now making full speed running only on batteries. It’s one of the most exciting things I’ve been a part of in a long time. I’m really excited for the future of this electrification program for the ferry system and I’d just like to thank all the crews for working so hard for getting us to this point. It’s been amazing.”
The yard work included taking out two of the four diesel generators and building two battery rooms. These battery rooms house 864 battery modules. Other upgrades include new controls, thousands of feet of electric and fiber optic cables, and general upkeep like exterior paint. If all goes to plan, the ferry will be in service in-time for the summer Bainbridge-Seattle route rush. Wenatchee has been in the Vigor Shipyard for about two years during this protracted conversion process.
“There are no issues with the technology itself, but as is common with major vessel retrofits, we have faced some challenges in working this new technology into the existing vessel. Working with Vigor, we have largely tackled these issues and are now preparing for system commissioning. We’re also applying our lessons learned for the subsequent vessels,” said Matt von Ruden, administrator for the WSF System Electrification Program in a WSDOT press release in 2024 when explaining the delays.
The move is part of a broader Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) effort to rebuild and modernize the state’s ferry fleet into hybrid-electric power by 2040—and be completely emissions-free by 2050. Construction will include converting six vessels to hybrid-electric power (including Wenatchee), build 16 new hybrid-electric vessels, and adding shore charging stations to 16 terminals. According to WSDOT, the ferry system electrification is necessary to “reduce emissions, ensure resiliency, and reduce operations and maintenance costs.” At the time of this writing total cost estimates for this effort is $3.98 billion with $1.68 billion secured thus far.
Notably in the conversation is the ferry system’s severe chronic under-service for the last several years. An inevitable tension exists between pulling urgently needed ferries out of service for lengthy hybrid-electric conversions. WSDOT states that while the next conversions are the existing working ferries Tacoma and Puyallup, these will be delayed until after the World Cup in 2026. The change is “part of Governor Ferguson and WSF’s plan to restore service to pre-pandemic levels.” The move to postpone conversions has allowed the ferry system to restore several formerly standard routes, including Bremerton-Seattle, that have been out of service due to the crunch on the system.
Is this hybrid-electric conversion a sign of things to come, both for ferry systems and other boat sectors? It’s hard to say as several factors, such as a ferry’s regular calls to port and shore power for electric charges, make these vessels especially amenable to an electrification application. But if Wenatchee can prove its stuff in the years ahead with the reduced emissions, greater resiliency, and less operations and maintenance costs the WSDOT program is setting out to accomplish then the effort is vindicated as a step toward real progress. If not, a lot of time, spent money, and locals being late to work was for naught. Since the Washington State Ferry system is the largest and most complex system in the USA, ferry operators in other areas of the country like New York City may be watching to see how the hybridization program works out. If the rebuild and new construction ferries in Washington state prove the benefits of the new technology, other ferry systems could follow in their path ushering in a new era.
