Marine Electric Motor Market Size, Share, & Growth

Overview

The increasing demand for energy-efficient and sustainable marine vessel systems drives the marine electric motor market, with the push for green shipping and stringent environmental regulations, such as IMO's emission standards. Other key drivers include the rise in ship electrification, advancements in hybrid and electric propulsion technologies, and increasing offshore energy activities. Such challenges include high initial costs and the regional disparity in adoption offset by the chances of growth, such as expanding offshore wind energies and port modernization plans. The market has growth opportunities, as most Asia Pacific countries build and manufacture ships while other aspects related to ship sustains rely mainly on Europe.

Attractive Opportunities in the Marine Electric Motor Market 

Marine Electric Motor Market Dynamics:

Driver: Increasing Adoption of Hybrid and Electric Propulsion Systems

The marine industry is shifting towards hybrid and fully electric propulsion systems, owning to stricter environmental regulations such as the IMO 2020 sulfur cap and the targets of the Paris Agreement. Shipowners and operators are investing more in electric motors to reduce their reliance on conventional fuels, decrease emissions, and enhance energy efficiency. This is especially evident in commercial vessel operations where electrification provides immediate cost and environmental benefits. Advances in battery technology and energy storage systems make electric propulsion feasible for larger vessels like cargo ships and offshore support vessels. The trend toward hybrid solutions where electric and conventional systems are combined for greater operational flexibility also promotes its adoption, further encouraged by governmental incentives and industry-wide decarbonization initiatives.

Restraint: High initial investment cost

Marine electric motors are associated with technologies with high upfront capital costs, including system integration and retrofitting of older vessels. For small and medium-sized companies and vessel operators, these expenses are high for adopting electric propulsion systems. Additionally, extra costs of installed hybrid systems, such as controllers, auxiliary motors, and a power management system, include additional fees. Whereas precise long-term operational cost and environmental compliance benefits may result in high initial investment, the upfront investment itself can be a high risk to businesses with limited capital and, in regions with little or no regulatory enforcement, makes it difficult for the marine electrification business to obtain financing support and subsidies available to companies in developed markets.

Opportunity: Expansion of Offshore Wind Energy Projects  

The rapid development of offshore wind projects presents a substantial growth opportunity for the marine electric motor market. These projects require specialized vessels with dynamic positioning systems, thrusters, and cranes powered by efficient electric motors to install, maintain, and service offshore turbines. As countries like China, the United States, and Europe ramp up investments in renewable energy, the demand for electric-powered service vessels is increasing. The push to electrify offshore vessels aligns with the sustainability goals of wind energy projects, creating synergies between the renewable energy and marine industries. In addition to vessel demand, the maintenance of underwater cables and subsea structures associated with wind farms further drives the requirement for electric motors in remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and subsea tools. This sector is expected to be a significant contributor to the growth of the marine electric motor market.

Challenge: Limited Infrastructure for Electric Marine Operations

Regulatory One major challenge to marine electric motor adoption is the absence of supporting infrastructure. Most ports cannot provide enough charging stations or shores-to-ship power and maintenance hubs tailored for pure electric and hybrid vessels. The existing infrastructure is designed for traditional diesel-powers, which makes it a hard sell to vessel operators to make a significant port upgrade before transitioning. In remote areas or small ports, the lack of good electric grids makes electrified marine operations challenging. Also, non-uniformity in electric marine technology regarding charging compatibility between one manufacturer and another and differing vessel types complicates things for operators who want to take up these systems. The infrastructural gaps challenge electric vessels' operational horizons and cause them to become more dependent on traditional propulsion methods in long-distance and heavy-power applications.

Ecosystem Map: Marine Electric Motor Market

Exhaustive secondary research collected information on the Marine Electric Motor Market, its adjacent markets, and its parent market. The next step was to validate these findings, assumptions, and sizing with industry experts across the value chain through primary research. Demand-side analyses were carried out to estimate the overall size of the market. Both top-down and bottom-up approaches were employed to assess the complete market size. Thereafter, market breakdown and data triangulation were used to calculate the size of segments and subsegments.

Secondary Research

In the secondary research process, various secondary sources, such as D&B Hoovers, Bloomberg, Business Week, and different magazines, were referred to identify and collect information for this study. Secondary sources also included company annual reports, press releases, investor presentations, certified publications, articles by recognized authors, and research papers.

Primary Research

Extensive primary research was conducted after obtaining information about the current scenario of the Marine Electric Motor Market through secondary research. In the primary research process, various sources from the supply and demand sides were interviewed to obtain qualitative and quantitative information on the market. Primary sources from the supply side included industry experts such as vice presidents (VPs), directors from business development, marketing, and product development/innovation teams, related key executives from the marine industry, marine component manufacturers, and key opinion leaders. The primary sources from the demand side included defense agencies and departments, armed forces, defense contractors, and military research institutions.                     

Market Size Estimation

The size of the marine electric motor market was estimated and validated using both top-down and bottom-up approaches. The figure below represents this study's overall market size estimation process.

The research methodology used to estimate the market size includes the following details.

• Key market players were identified through secondary research, and their market shares were determined through primary and secondary research. This included an extensive study of top market players' annual and financial reports and interviews with CEOs, directors, and marketing executives.
• All percentage shares, splits, and breakdowns were determined using secondary sources and verified through primary sources.
• All possible parameters that affect the markets covered in this research study were accounted for, viewed in extensive detail, verified through primary research, and analyzed to obtain the final quantitative and qualitative data. This data was consolidated, enhanced with detailed inputs, analyzed by MarketsandMarkets, and presented in this report.
• Market growth trends were defined based on approaches such as the product revenues of the major 10-15 companies from 2020 to 2023, R&D expenditures, contracts by different companies from 2020 to 2024, and historic growth patterns between 2020 and 2024, among others. 

Data Triangulation

After arriving at the overall market size from the market size estimation process explained above, the total market was split into several segments and subsegments. The data triangulation and market breakdown procedures were implemented wherever applicable to complete the overall market engineering process and arrive at the exact statistics for market segments and subsegments. The data was triangulated by studying various factors and trends from both the demand and supply sides. The market size was also validated using both the top-down and bottom-up approaches.

Report Objectives

• To define, describe, and forecast the Marine Electric Motor Market size based on Type, Power, Application, Sale, and Vessel Type from 2023 to 2029.
• To identify and analyze key drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges influencing the growth of the Marine Electric Motor Market.
• To strategically analyze micro markets concerning individual growth trends, prospects, and their contribution to the Marine Electric Motor Market.
• To analyze opportunities for stakeholders in the Marine Electric Motor Market by identifying key market trends.
• To analyze competitive developments such as contracts, acquisitions and expansions, agreements, joint ventures and partnerships, product launches, and R&D activities in the Marine Electric Motor Market.
• To provide a detailed competitive landscape of the Marine Electric Motor Market and an analysis of business and corporate strategies adopted by leading market players.
• To strategically profile key market players and comprehensively analyze their core competencies.

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Scope of the Report

The study categorizes the Marine Electric Motor Market based on Type, Power, Application, Sale, and vessel Type.

• By Type
  • AC Motor
  • DC Motor
• By Power
  • <500 kW
  • 500 - 1000 kW
  • >1000 W
• By Application
  • Onboard
  • Onshore
  • Offshore
• By Sales
  • OEM
  • Aftermarket
• By Vessel Type
  • Commerical
  • Defense
  • Unmanned Maritime Vehicles Market 

Available Customizations

MarketsandMarkets offers the following customizations for this market report:

Company Information

• Profiling of additional market players (up to 5)

Product Analysis

• Product matrix, which provides a detailed comparison of the product portfolio of each company in the Marine Electric Motor market.