Finland has a long tradition of pioneering maritime technological innovation. INTENS, a VTT-coordinated research-industry collaborative project, is one of the most recent successful actions on smart and green shipping. The generated novel solutions and innovations can largely improve energy efficiency and reduce emissions of ship energy systems, mitigate global climate change, disrupt the ways how the maritime industries operate currently and pave the way to the future shipping.
“From its inception, INTENS has been a blessing to the consortium partners and wider Finnish maritime cluster. It has given partners a unique opportunity to jointly research and develop industry-leading novel solutions and innovations to address the major challenges faced by the global shipping industry”, says Vice President of Mobility and Transport, Johannes Hyrynen, from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. “Over 60 novel software and physical products and over 150 scientific publications have been generated during the project, having led to significant research and business impacts and resulted in 26 new business and R&D projects with total volume of over 22 M€, which further strengthens Finland’s global position as a technology-innovation leader in ship design, system integration, building and operation.”
“The aims and expectations that Business Finland had for INTENS have been well achieved. This can clearly be seen in the generated results and heard from the feedback and experiences of the participants”, says Chief Advisor, Matti Säynätjoki, from the INTENS financier Business Finland. “It also well supported and showcased the objective of Business Finland to develop internationally competitive innovation and business ecosystems in Finland.”
“The INTENS project was a valuable chance for NAPA to explore how we use voyage optimization to solve an existing issue for our customers”, says Executive Vice President, Pekka Pakkanen, from NAPA Shipping Solutions. “Being part of INTENS has helped us create an industry-leading platform that will allow the shipping industry more than ever before to benefit from advanced voyage optimization and routing and, in turn, help mitigate one of the 21st century’s most difficult climate challenges.”
“INTENS was also a success and expectation-exceeding story for Wärtsilä”, says Technical Manager, Pasi Juppo, from Wärtsilä Marine Power. “Over 80% of NOx emissions reduction, 50% total hydrocarbon content (THC) reduction and around 2%-unit efficiency improvement have been achieved with novel advanced technologies. This would have not been possible without a good collaboration with the universities and partners.”
“INTENS project has been an important step for Vahterus R&D”, says Senior R&D Engineer, Kerttu Kupiainen, from Vahterus Oy, “being part of the consortium has helped us gain valuable new knowledge and competence in the maritime domain. New and renewed relationships with partners have also fuelled multiple new projects.”
“It has been a great honour to lead such a highly committed and cooperative consortium”, addresses the INTENS Project Coordinator, Zou Guangrong, from VTT. “Although the project itself has come to an end, the fruitful collaboration and co-innovation among the INTENS partners is continuing in many ways. The direct and indirect research and business impacts will be surely visible, not only generating scientific and technological innovations but also creating sustainable and globally competitive businesses, and hence strengthen Finland’s green and innovative global image in the years to come.”
The INTENS (Integrated Energy Solutions to Smart and Green Shipping, http://intens.vtt.fi) consortium consists of 14 Finnish marine companies (NAPA Oy, Wärtsilä Finland Oy, Meyer Turku Oy, Dinex Ecocat Oy, Deltamarin Oy, Vahterus Oy, Pinja Oy, Parker Hannifin Oy, JTK Power Oy, 3D Studio Blomberg Ab, Jeppo Biogas Ab, Visorc Oy, Tallink Silja Oy and NLC Ferry Ab Oy) and 5 renowned research organizations (Aalto University, Lappeenranta University of Technology, University of Vaasa, Åbo Akademi University and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd).
