The green transition makes considerably different demands on engine suppliers than just a few years ago, when it was primarily about having the best engine in stock.
Two years ago, Danish engine dealer Holm Technoscan became part of the Nordic group Bertel O. Steen Power Solutions (BOS Power).
At the time, the Glostrup-based company had approximately 20 employees and they mainly dealt with sale and servicing of mtu engines for the maritime sector.
But this is no longer the case.
Of course, the company is still capable of delivering mtu engines, but it is no longer focused primarily on the sale and servicing of diesel-powered engines.
Complex solutions
Today, BOS Power focuses to a much greater extent on complex energy solutions to customers within a wide range of industries both on water and on land, and through acquisitions and organic growth, BOS Power has quadrupled its turnover from approximately 200 million Norwegian kroner in just a few years to approximately NOK 800 million.
- We have gone through a very large transformation of the company, and this also applies to our department in Denmark. Being a mtu supplier is a bit like having an ice cream stand. Here everyone knows what to buy, and it's just about having the best ice cream - it doesn't get any more advanced. As a system supplier, it is more complicated. Here it is about designing the projects, and you are often involved in them for a long time, says Eirik Nesse, director of business development at BOS Power.
- One of the things we have been successful with is that we have gone from being a traditional engine supplier to becoming a system provider with the skills needed to advise customers in the process, he says.
The development at BOS Power is largely driven by the green transition.
The company supplies, among other things, emergency power systems to large enterprises such as data centers, hospitals, and shopping centers.
The maritime sector
Within the maritime sector, focus is largely on finding alternative solutions to fuel engines.
Eirik Nesse notes in this connection that there is a big difference in how easy it is to convert vessels, depending on what the vessels are used for.
Fishing is one of those industries where it is far from easy.
- It is a big challenge to find good solutions within fishing, but in the short term I see many advantages in hybrid solutions, where you supplement the traditional diesel engine with electricity. In the longer term, I think we will see a switch to alternative fuels such as methanol, says Eirik Nesse.
- But there is no doubt that the available alternative solutions are more expensive than the ones used today. Therefore, there is no doubt that traditional diesel engines will be part of the solution for many years to come, he says.
No easy solutions in the fishing industry
Although there are no easy solutions in the fishing industry, there is hardly any doubt that it will also convert to greener solutions over the coming years.
- The fishing industry is the part of the maritime sector where there has been the least change. This applies both in Norway and Denmark. It will probably also require political demand and financial support for major change to happen, says Eirik Nesse.
- When we have seen a big switch from petrol and diesel cars to electric cars in Norway, it is largely connected to the fact that the authorities have given some big financial incentives for it. I guess you will see the same in fishing, he says.