Germany launches bidirectional charging pilot for electric catamaran

A new research project in Norddeich, Germany, has officially launched a prototype for bidirectional charging, allowing parked electric vehicles to serve as energy storage for maritime use. The project enables the Frisia E-1, the first fully electric catamaran under the German flag, to be powered by energy stored in the batteries of parked electric cars.

Volkswagen provided a model ID. 7 from its Emden plant for the testing phase. The initiative utilizes a Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) system, where the batteries of cars using the charging stations at Norden Frisia parking lots act as intermediate storage to assist in charging the electric catamaran.

The project is a collaboration between Norden Frisia, Osnabrück University of Applied Sciences, and the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU), which is providing 164,894 euros in funding. The research is scheduled to run until January 2027, aiming to increase the use of self-generated renewable energy for maritime operations.