Seavolt to roll out rapid charger network at d’Albora marinas

The group has formed a partnership with d’Albora, Australia’s largest marina group, to install public fast-charging stations that can top up a battery to 80 percent quite quickly, as well as options for AC chargers at marina berths so that owners can trickle charge their boats overnight.

The group will also provide electric car recharging services for d’Albora’s car parks.

The fast DC chargers will be installed across d’Albora’s 13 Queensland, NSW and Victorian marinas with Sydney Harbour’s The Spit, one of d’Albora’s newest acquisitions and one of its full-service centres, the first to get the upgrade.

Seavolt chief executive Chris Cudlipp said it was vital that a charging network was in place that could deliver electricity from renewable sources.

According to d’Albora managing director Julien Pouteau, the marine industry is about to go through a major change, and the marina group was taking “the first big step towards embracing it”.

“It’s critical that there are chargers in key locations,” Pouteau said. “d’Albora’s network of prime marina locations across the east coast delivers that.”

“We want to support the emissions-free boating opportunity in the industry and provide a sustainable and functional service for these users,” he said.

“We have customers who are already showing interest in berthing new electric boats with us. When Seavolt approached us, we saw the potential of the partnership straight away.”

Seavoilt says it will install chargers using the Open Charge Port Protocol, an open-source connection standard for recharging stations, as well as DC superchargers, for free. They are available to boat sheds, marinas, boat ramps and ports.

Users can access the chargers using an RFID card. 

The group also offers large-scale battery systems to store self-generated solar power to help guarantee a supply of electricity.

Seavolt has already rolled out a dockside electric boat recharging network to The Quays marina in Pittwater, making it the first marina in Australia to offer a boat-based recharging network.

The site also has 200 solar panels capable of generating 600kWh of energy a day, enough to power the entire marina.

The marina also has installed four electric car recharging stations in its car park.

Several boat brands launching on the Australian market are bringing electric models to recreational boating.

These include dayboat makers RAND, Axopar, hybrid and fully electric cruising motor yacht maker Greenline, and foiling boat specialist Candela with the C8.

There is also the option for outboard-engined boats to ditch the fuel tank and instead fit a battery bank, with several high-powered outboard motors in development.