Norsepower secures €3m in capital investment.

Norsepower, a Finnish engineering company, announced that it has received €3M ($3.3M) in investment from a syndicate led by venture capital fund Power Fund III and has installed a second rotor sail on Bore’s Ro-Ro vessel MS Estraden.

In addition to VNT Management, which is behind Power Fund III, other investors include Finnvera Oyj, Lifeline Ventures and Wate Oy. Tekes – the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation, is also a funder of the company.

Data analysis and verification by NAPA, the leading maritime data analysis, software and services provider, has been fundamental to these developments by proving the effectiveness of Norsepower’s technology. 

A single Norsepower Rotor Sail was installed on the 9,700 DWT Ro-Ro carrier in late 2014. Although the weather conditions were largely calm over the three-month trial, data analysis from vessel performance monitoring and verification software, ClassNK-NAPA GREEN, demonstrated that the rotor sail delivered clear and significant savings of 2.5%.  

Based on this evidence, Bore has ordered a second installation; the first commercial order for a Flettner rotor in shipping. Doubling the rotor sails has now proven to double fuel savings; NAPA recorded a 6.1% reduction in fuel consumption, avoiding 1,200 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.  

Measurement, analytics and third-party verification has helped Norsepower evolve its rotor sail from an innovative system for trial, to a proven and marketable fuel efficiency technology with a clear business case. In addition to the expanded market potential, this evidence has also helped Norsepower increase its enterprise value and secure the future of the business.

Prior to this deal, the company has raised more than $6m, which has enabled development, testing and piloting of the Norsepower Rotor Sail Solution.