ABB Lands Go-Ahead for Third Washington State Hybrid Ferry

Washington State Ferries has issued ABB a Notice to Proceed on a third hybrid-electric newbuild ferry, extending the automation giant's role in the largest ferry electrification programme in North America from two vessels to three.

The authorization converts an option that ABB held under its original agreement, which named it propulsion systems supplier for the first two hulls with a contractual path to a third. For a fleet that burns roughly 19 million gallons of diesel every year — the equivalent of a small refinery's monthly output — the stakes in getting these systems right are not cosmetic.

The number that matters most in the technical package is 13.2 megawatt-hours. ABB will integrate a battery energy storage system of that capacity aboard the third vessel, designed to allow fully electric operation with no direct emissions on short routes and while the ship lies in port. That is the operating profile where ferry electrification pays off: short, repeated crossings with frequent dwell time for charging.

What is ABB actually supplying?

The scope goes well beyond batteries. ABB's package includes:

• The Onboard DC Grid, its direct-current power distribution architecture
• A Power and Energy Management System (PEMS) that allocates power sources to match operating conditions
• A 13.2 MWh battery energy storage installation
• Propulsion drives, motors, transformers and propellers
• Steering systems, marine automation and remote diagnostics
• Engineering and commissioning support through delivery

The Onboard DC Grid and PEMS pairing is the commercial heart of the deal. Together they let the vessel draw on batteries, engines or shore power as conditions demand, which is what makes hybrid operation economical rather than merely symbolic. ABB has installed variations of this architecture on hybrid ferries in Europe, though the company has not disclosed contract values for the WSF work — a silence worth noting when any public electrification programme is discussed.

David Sowers, System Electrification Program Administrator at Washington State Ferries, framed the award as another step in the operator's long-term fleet modernization programme and stressed the value of technical consistency across the new vessels. That consistency argument is not trivial: standardizing on one supplier's power architecture across a class reduces crew training burdens, spares inventory and integration risk — the same logic that drives common platform decisions in container shipping.

Why a state ferry operator is a freight story

Washington State Ferries is not a container line, but it operates the waterborne logistics backbone of the Puget Sound region, moving vehicles and freight across routes that have no road alternative. Downtime or design failures on these vessels ripple directly into regional supply chains, which is why the electrification programme's targets carry weight beyond passenger service.

The stated goals are specific: a 76% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions and a 75% cut in sulfur oxides by 2040. The operator plans up to 16 new hybrid-electric ferries in service by 2040, with a longer-term objective of a fully emission-free fleet by 2050. Three vessels under contract means ABB currently holds scope on under a fifth of the planned build-out — so today's award is less a victory lap than proof that the option structure works and the first hulls have not derailed the schedule.

Skeptics will reasonably ask what has not been said. The source discloses no delivery dates for the third vessel, no contract value, and no battery supplier. A 13.2 MWh installation is a large marine battery order by any standard, and supply chains for cells of that scale remain tight; WSF has not publicly addressed procurement risk. The 2040 and 2050 targets also assume sustained capital funding from the Washington State legislature, which no engineering contract can guarantee.

Still, the trajectory is now visible in numbers rather than aspirations: two hulls contracted, a third confirmed, 13 more possible by 2040, and a diesel consumption figure — 19 million gallons a year — that gives the programme a concrete baseline to be judged against. Whether the emission targets survive contact with shipyard schedules and battery markets will determine if this becomes a model or a cautionary tale.