Wasaline has contracted the marine battery specialists from AYK Energy to up the ferry's current battery system of 2.2MWh by an additional 10.4MWh.

Delivery is scheduled for the autumn of this year, with Aurora Botnia using the new lithium iron phosphate pack as of January 2026.

Thanks to the upgrade, Wasaline expects to cut the ship's greenhouse gas emissions by 23% (towards fully carbon-neutral operations by 2030).

Aurora Botnia entered traffic on 28 August 2021 and according to the Finnish-Swedish ferry line, her carbon footprint is now lower by 77% per trip vs Wasa Express, the previous ro-pax serving the Umeå-Vaasa crossing.

Apart from battery operations, the dual-fuel ferry runs on liquefied natural gas, including its bio-version. Clients, both passengers and cargo, have the option to offset their footprint while sailing with Aurora Botnia.

"We are continuously working to establish the Vaasa-Umeå route as a green shipping corridor. There's growing demand for environmentally friendly transport, and intermodal cargo transportation from Europe is increasing yearly. This means the entire transport chain can be carbon-neutral today. Expanding our battery capacity is a major step that allows us to make our vessel even more sustainable and allocate more capacity to batteries and biogas. Our collaboration with Finland's and the region's energy clusters makes innovative solutions like this possible and we are proud to be a forerunner in the industry," underscored Peter Ståhlberg, Managing Director of Wasaline.

Chris Kruger, Founder of AYK Energy, added, "This is the largest battery retrofit on a vessel to date, and we are extremely proud to be partnering with Wasaline as the provider of this advanced battery solution. Being recognised once again as a reliable and cost-effective supplier is extremely gratifying. This project exemplifies AYK's vision of bringing high quality, safe and cost-effective solutions to address our customers' requirements for environmentally friendly transport. The transition to electric and hybrid vessels is accelerating, and the AYK/Wasaline partnership is an excellent example of how working together strategically can make the change happen."

Photo: Wasaline