Maersk Supply Service and Ørsted have formed a partnership to test a charging buoy that can bring green electricity to offshore wind farm service vessels and potentially to a wide range of maritime vessels.The buoy can be used to charge the smaller battery- or hybrid-electrical vessels and to supply power to larger vessels, enabling them to turn off their engines when laying idle. The proto-type buoy has been developed by Maersk Supply Service while Ørsted is responsible for the buoy's integration with the electrical grid at the offshore wind farm. The charging buoy will be tested in the second half of 2021, where it will supply overnight power to one of Ørsted's service vessels. The charging buoy is applicable as a mooring point outside ports, in offshore wind farms, and near vicinity to other offshore installations. Ørsted intends to make any intellectual property generated in designing the integration of the buoy into the offshore wind asset publicly available.
