FEASIBILITY OF INVESTMENT IN RENEWABLE ENERGY SYSTEMS FOR SHIPYARDS

Shipbuilding industry is generally considered as one of the key global industries. It consumes a significant amount of energy and leaves a strong footprint on the environment. It is therefore required to try to increase renewable energy sources in the shipbuilding industry in accordance with the adopted international legislation. This will improve energy efficiency of shipyards and reduce their impact on the environment. The present preliminary study contributes to those goals as application of sustainable renewable energy systems in ship production industry is considered. The analysis is performed for solar panels, tidal and wind turbines with respect to their technology readiness and investment costs, as well as for the total energy consumption. While in the present work the research hypothesis is studied on example of a typical Croatian shipyard, the general findings are expected to be widely applicable to all shipyards. The solar panels are considered as the most suitable renewable technology, while the investment return period for introducing solar panels to satisfy the entire electrical energy demand in this particular case is approximately seven years. The impact of introducing this green shipbuilding approach is considered beneficial in comparison with current conventional electrical energy production based on conventional energy sources.