New and retrofitted electric ferries are being sounded out to carry passengers across Sydney’s harbour and key river routes, a new strategy from the NSW government has revealed.
The NSW state government laid out a broad-ranging strategy on Monday aimed at guiding the state towards its net zero emissions by 2050 targets.
And ferries, although they contribute just a small portion of the state’s emissions, can play a part. A push from the public to save the state’s iconic Freshwater ferries, now 40 years old, has seen them remain on the fleet despite the additional maintenance costs of their aging diesel engines.
The good news is they could be saved by converting to electric propulsion. The new NSW strategy states that assessing the purchase and retrofit of the harbour city’s ferries is already underway.
Electric ferries are not new, and other countries such as Norway…
Electrification could save Sydney’s ferries in NSW clean transport strategy
