Wabtec Corp. said it’s participating in the Hypobatt project, which is developing a megawatt-charging standard and infrastructure for ferries in European ports.

Hypobatt is short for hyper powered vessel battery charging system.

Pittsburgh-based Wabtec (NYSE:WAB) is working in a consortium with 18 partners who are responsible for a 42-month project to identify maritime charging solutions that reduce contact time, wait time and maintenance cost…

The project also will develop a fully automatic and safe electric ship connection system with the capacity to fully charge a vessel’s battery while at the dock.

The consortium is targeting to reduce connection time to less than 30 seconds, charging time by 10%, and space dock side for the system by 20%. Additionally, it aims to improve charger availability by 95% and battery life by 10%.

The consortium will demonstrate the technology at the ports of Norddeich and Norderney, Germany. The testing will be conducted on a vessel of the Reederei Norden-Frisia shipping company.