The MARPOWER project is pushing ahead with its mission to transform marine power generation, with one of its key objectives being the development of the MARPOWER Energy Conversion System (MECS). This next-generation concept brings together an intercooled recuperative two-shaft gas turbine and a bottoming cycle for waste heat recovery, aiming to deliver up to 5.8 MW of power at 54% electrical efficiency, and as high as 73–76% overall efficiency in Combined Heat and Power (CHP) mode.
Work is underway to ensure the MECS can operate on a wide range of net-zero fuels -including green methane, methanol, hydrogen, and ammonia-, making it a versatile and future-proof solution. Its anticipated compact size, high performance, and clean-fuel capability are expected to open new pathways for replacing conventional marine engines and generators across diverse vessel types.
A virtual model for real-world readiness
To ensure this complex system performs as intended under demanding maritime conditions, the MARPOWER project is developing a Digital Twin (DT), a dynamic virtual model that will replicate the behaviour and performance of the physical MECS throughout its lifecycle.
Led by the University of Vigo, the DT will serve as a virtual test bench where the integrated system’s response to various operating conditions can be evaluated early and iteratively. Developed through close collaboration among technical and industrial partners, it will enable the simulation of normal operation, rapid load changes, start-up and shutdown sequences, and emergency scenarios, ensuring that the full range of system dynamics is captured throughout the project.
What the Digital Twin will integrate
The DT will integrate a wide range of data and models originating from the project’s design and prototyping activities. These include:
- Virtual data from computational simulations of compressors, turbines, heat exchangers, bearings, and generators.
- Physical data from lab testing of key prototypes, such as the high-speed shaft supported by active magnetic bearings (AMB), the recuperator, and the combustion chamber.
- Geometrical, thermophysical, and control system parameters defining how components interact under different fuel and load conditions.
- Transient behaviour and thermal inertia responses of the system during start-up, shutdown, and abnormal operations.
This data will feed into a physics-based low-order dynamic system model, developed using Modelica, a modelling language widely used for simulating complex physical systems across multiple domains (e.g. thermal, mechanical, electrical). The model will be implemented in SimulationX, a platform that provides a graphical environment for simulating system dynamics. This setup enables seamless integration of components like turbines, recuperators, and generators, and is especially valuable for capturing the interactions between subsystems in energy applications like the MECS. This system will allow the project team to simulate transient behaviour, test control strategies, and assess system performance under realistic marine conditions.
Key capabilities of the Digital Twin
Once completed, the Digital Twin will be able to:
- Predict electric and thermal power output with high accuracy
- Support the design of control strategies to optimize efficiency, safety, and reliability
- Evaluate resilience to fuel variability and impurities
- Simulate emissions, temperature profiles, and component stress levels
- Validate scalability, enabling assessment for multiple ship types and power demands
It will also be designed to interact with digital ship models in the project’s two vessel case studies (a container ship and a cruise vessel) where it will simulate the system’s integration, performance, and environmental benefits in real operating conditions.
Partners driving the Digital Twin
The creation of the Digital Twin is an active, cross-disciplinary effort, bringing together the expertise of leading technical and industrial partners in the consortium. Each partner plays a critical role in ensuring the platform mirrors real-world performance and supports the project’s decarbonisation goals:
- University of Vigo – Leading the overall design and integration of the Digital Twin, coordinating partner inputs and ensuring the platform accurately reflects operational behaviour.
- LUT University – Supplying design and experimental data for key components such as the electrical generator and waste heat recovery (WHR) unit, along with dynamic models of the high-speed rotating shaft and the active magnetic bearing (AMB) system that enables frictionless shaft stabilisation.
- Politecnico di Milano – Delivering high-fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations of compressors and turbines to generate precise performance maps for integration into the Digital Twin.
- German Aerospace Center (DLR) – Providing detailed combustion and emissions data across a range of operating conditions, based on both advanced simulations and physical combustion chamber tests.
- Aurelia Turbines – Supporting turbine system configuration by integrating the combustion system and sharing hands-on experience from prototyping and testing.
- Alfa Laval – Contributing thermal and mechanical performance data for the recuperator, a specialised heat exchanger that boosts efficiency by preheating air with turbine exhaust.
- RINA Services – Guiding compliance with maritime safety standards, certification processes, and classification society requirements to ensure the Digital Twin meets regulatory expectations.
- Chantiers de l’Atlantique – Applying the Digital Twin to assess MECS integration in real-world ship environments, particularly in container and cruise vessel case studies, while contributing to onboard system layout and performance simulations.
A tool for innovation and impact
The development of the Digital Twin is central to achieving the project’s broader goal: enabling the transition of the waterborne fleet to a zero-emission mode of transport by 2050. By creating a robust simulation environment, the consortium will reduce risks, optimize design iterations, and ensure that the MECS can deliver its full potential in both electric ship propulsion and cogeneration applications.
This work brings together a broad group of universities, research centres, technology providers, and industry partners, each contributing essential expertise. As a shared platform for collaborative engineering and predictive analysis, the DT will support key decisions and help ensure the MECS is ready for safe, efficient integration across different types of vessels.