The 295-foot vessel Den Bosch Max Groen owned by Nedcargo and operated in partnership with inland terminal operator BCTN, is currently undergoing a conversion at the Concordia Damen shipyard that will include replacing the diesel generator with a system that will be powered by a standard 20-foot modular energy container. The Den Bosch Max Groen will be the first inland cargo vessel running entirely on a new swappable battery system to achieve zero emission operations. Known as ZESpacks, the batteries are self-contained and designed to be loaded onto the ships and then swapped out after the power is expended. Zero Emission Services (ZES) is building a strategically placed network of 1 MW charging stations where the batteries can be recharged in three hours. The vessel is scheduled to re-enter service in April 2024 as the first vessel to operate solely using a second generation of the battery power system.
The ship operates between Rotterdam and Den Bosch primarily carrying containers and cargo for Heineken. With a capacity of 132 TEU, it was designed at the maximum size to fit through the locks on the Dieze Canal while also maximizing cargo capacity. Nedcargo reports it ships around 2.5 billion bottles of Heineken beer to the ports of Rotterdam and Antwerp each year. The conversion to the battery system is expected to reduce emissions annually by approximately 715 tonnes of CO2 and 13 tonnes of NOx.