2024-06-18
Last updated: 2025-03-07 17:13
Slowly but surely, the number of boats with battery or hybrid power is increasing along our coasts. The transition to electric power requires the infrastructure to keep up.
- As a major player in the boating industry and home port for many boats, it is important that we take our responsibility for the infrastructure. Anyone who wants to switch to an electric boat should be able to do so and feel comfortable that there will be stable access to electricity when you are at your place. But we must also be able to offer public charging for boats on temporary visits," says Anders Söderberg, CEO of Grefab, Göteborgsregionens fritidshamnar AB.
Cars can also use the new charging point on Saltholmen. In Hinsholmen, home charging for electric boats has been prioritized. The X jetty has been given 14 posts with four sockets each, plus a charging point of 11kW on the dock for temporarily added boats. The payment solution via app is available to everyone who wants to use the charging possibilities.
- Our focus now will be to monitor and evaluate the investments we have made to see if the solutions and investments we have chosen are right. We need to learn in order to take the right next steps," says Anders Söderberg.
Collaborative projects provide opportunities
The efforts to electrify the marinas in Gothenburg are part of a large collaborative project along the west coast of Norway that the EU is co-financing. The project will create the conditions for a charging route for leisure boats that extends all the way to Agder in Norway. The goal is primarily 400 charging points in Gothenburg, Lysekil and Arendal in Norway.
A few weeks ago, a 150kW super fast charger was inaugurated in the southern harbor of Lysekil, within the framework of the project.
- It is one of the first super fast chargers for boats on the west coast. Cars can also use it. For a coastal municipality like Lysekil, it is a way of showing off and increasing its attractiveness to visitors," says Madeleine Lilja, project manager at Business Region Göteborg.
Growing market for electric powertrains
In the future, more and more new boats will be equipped with fully electric or hybrid powertrains. The number of older boats switching to electric motors is increasing and is perhaps the fastest growing market along with electric outboards for smaller boats.
- The vision is that we will inspire and in various ways contribute to a string of charging opportunities along the coast between Gothenburg and Strömstad, into the Oslo Fjord and further south on the other side of the Skagerrak to the Norwegian Agder. Quite simply, a functioning charging infrastructure for leisure boats," says Madeleine Lilja.
About Grefab
Göteborgsregionens Fritidshamnar AB (Grefab) owns, operates and develops marinas in the Gothenburg region. Grefab is owned by the City of Gothenburg, Partille Municipality, Ale Municipality and Mölndal City.
About the go:LEIF project
The electric boat charging project go:LEIF aims to be part of the green transition through electrification, smart technology and sustainable business models. The project runs until 2025 and will create the conditions for establishing a charging route for electric boats in marinas along the coast from Gothenburg to Agder in Norway.
The project is funded by the EU through ÖKS Interreg and Region Västra Götaland. The partners in the project are Agder Fylkeskommune, Arendal municipality, Business Region Göteborg, Föreningen Lydløs, Fyrbodals kommunalförbund, Grefab, the Gothenburg region, Innovatum Science Park, LEVA, Lysekil municipality, RISE and USN Universitetet Sørøst Norge.
