Nichols Brothers Boat Builders in Freeland has been selected to design and construct two electric ferries for a San Francisco project.

The contract award for the South Whidbey company comes a month ahead of when bids are due for Washington State Ferries’ five hybrid-electric ferries. Nichols Brothers is one of three shipyards in the nation that has expressed interest in providing a bid for the project. Bids were originally expected to be received this month, but the deadline was extended to May 12.

According to a press release, the recent contract award from San Francisco Bay Ferry is for 400-passenger battery-electric ferries as part of the agency’s Rapid Electric Emission Free Ferry Program. Nichols Brothers is partnering with Incat Crowther, a world-class passenger vessel designer; Wärtsilä North America, the electrical propulsion system integrator; and Ockerman Automation Consulting, a renowned electrical engineering firm, on the Bay Area project.

The two 400-passenger vessels will run at 25 knots, serving routes that connect Oakland and Alameda to San Francisco.

“The modular propulsion system features four independent propulsion units, each equipped with a Hydromaster drive, and a scalable energy storage system – including MCS charging units, a DC grid, and advanced DC conversion technology, all provided by EPSI Wärtsilä North America,” the press release stated.

Gavin Higgins, CEO of Nichols Brothers, said in an email that the the San Francisco project is very different from the Washington State Ferries’ project. The former consists of aluminum, passenger-only boats with only batteries on board, while the latter contains space for 160 cars, and being hybrid-electric, is powered in part by traditional diesel.

Construction on the electric ferries will begin in Freeland in July for the San Francisco project.