BLUE FLUO ISSUE • n°38 • 2024
Volvo Penta’s IPS Professional Platform shakes up the superyacht world.
The Swedish company has taken on the sustainable propulsion challenge by designing a platform that can use various combinations of energy sources. Its flexibility makes it possible to adapt yachts to future energy demands
Once again Volvo Penta sets the pace. Its new IPS Professional Platform means the company is prepared to address the issue of decarbonisation in the superyacht sector and take on a leading role. The new platform made its official debut at the Düsseldorf Boat Show last January. For the occasion Volvo Penta organised an event together with the Sanlorenzo yard where talk centred on the IPS Professional Platform and possible medium and long-term scenarios for propulsion systems. It’s a future that offers some exciting prospects, involving not only electrical power but also many alternative fuels like HVO, methanol and hydrogen. This bewildering array of potential alternatives makes the new IPS Professional Platform a very strong contender, as it is a technically advanced platform designed to be flexible, capable of working with various energy sources and combining them on board every yacht.
With its IPS Professional Platform, Volvo Penta is ready for any scenario.
“The IPS Professional Platform”, says Nicola Pomi, global yacht and superyacht director Volvo Penta, “Is the result of a process that began with the launch of the IPS almost 20 years ago. All the advantages of this now tried and tested technology, like greater manoeuvrability and on-board
space, high propulsion efficiency and reduced emissions and noise, are also offered by this new platform, which has been significantly improved and now opens the way to sustainable propulsion in the superyachts of the future”. The first craft to take to the water equipped with the IPS Professional Platform will be the new Sanlorenzo SX 120 in 2025. The first version of the platform will mount traditional IC engines – it should be emphasised that Volvo’s diesel engines are already HVO compliant. The next platform, set to appear in 2026, will support hybrid technologies and the others will gradually be introduced until total electrification is achieved.
“We estimate that around 2030-2035 we’ll be seeing a well-defined trend involving the new yacht propulsion systems beginning to take shape”, says Pomi. “Until now, though, owners ordering a new yacht must make an important decision about which system to use. They also have to take resale value into account. The IPS Professional is the most technologically cutting-edge system on the superyacht market and the versatility provided by propulsion sources provides maximum flexibility. The IPS Professional Platform is our future-proof response!” www.volvopenta.com
The first installations will be introduced in 2025 on the Sanlorenzo SX120 models (top). Opposite, Nicola Pomi, global
