A comparative technoeconomic and life cycle assessment of a fully battery-electric ROPAX ferry

The maritime sector is a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. It is a hard-to-abate sector, where no easy ways out are in sight. Unlike much of road transportation, where electrification has become a widely adopted solutions, fully battery-electric propulsion has not been considered a viable option. Recent developments have, however, changed this belief. The introduction of all-electric battery-powered propulsion is not just a matter of changing power source but requires a number of changes in the ways ships are operated and, in the way, (fast) charging is enabled. This study assesses the environmental and economic performance of novel shipping concept designed around a 110 MWh lithium iron phosphate battery-electric RoPax ferry to operate on the Helsinki–Tallinn route, representing the first deployment of such a large-scale system in short-sea shipping. A life cycle assessment (LCA) with a well-to-wake boundary and a techno-economic analysis were conducted to benchmark the battery-electric vessel against conventional fossil fuels and alternative low-carbon fuels under recently introduced regulatory schemes. A well-to-wake life cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis were conducted using a two-tier approach: Tier 1 quantifies total life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions via GWP100, while Tier 2 expands to midpoint indicators to assess environmental trade-offs beyond climate change. Results show that when powered by 100 % renewable electricity, the battery-electric ferry achieves the lowest GWP (∼61,881 tCO2-eq over 30 years), compared to ∼1.69 million tCO2-eq for marine gas oil, ∼1.67 million tCO2-eq for liquefied natural gas, ∼955,342 tCO2-eq for liquefied biogas, and ∼348,446 tCO2-eq for renewable e-methanol. However, use of the current Finnish–Estonian grid mix increases emissions more than tenfold, underscoring the importance of clean grid integration. Economically, while battery-electric propulsion entails higher capital expenditure, it yields the lowest total cost of ownership under EU ETS and FEUM pricing frameworks. These findings position battery-electric RoPax ferries as a promising pathway for decarbonising short-sea shipping with both environmental and regulatory compliance advantages.