The replacement vessel SCHULPENGAT is being used as reinforcement ferry between Den Helder and the North Sea island of Texel.

In early March, the ship built by the Spanish shipyard Construcciones Navales del Norte (LaNaval) was delivered in Bilbao and transferred from the Bay of Biscay to the North Sea by a team of the Dutch company RedWise.

Since then the ferry has already completed some testing and guest rides to the island.

The new TEXELSTROOM, designed by C-Job, stands for a whole new generation of ships. The ferry can be operated either with low-sulphur biodiesel or natural gas. Also, the upper level of the ship is covered with 700m2 of solar panels.
The advanced power management system uses a total of 252 units of 48V lithium-ion modules (of the AT6500 series from of Corvus Energy). The storage capacity of 1.6 MWh helps to increase the efficiency of the ferry by a the availability of a powerful backup. This backup means that the entire ferry can be operated in an emergency solely on battery power.

This energy storage system (ESS) enabled the designers to have smaller generators than usual, because the batteries can also be used to provide short switch on switch off abilities.

Approved by Lloyd's Register, the Corvus Energy system is the first ESS for ships on the market today.