Japan builds world's first ship to bring electricity from offshore wind farms to shore

Japanese company PowerX is planning an innovation in energy storage and transmission using an automated vessel. The first ship of its kind, the Power ARK 100 is a 100TEU trimaran specifically designed to transport electricity generated by offshore wind farms to shore.

The Japanese government plans that in 2030 renewable energy sources will account for 36-38% of the country's electricity production, a significant improvement from the previous plan of 22-24%, the source said. This will require an increase in "offshore wind" from the current 20MW to 10GW by 2030 and to 30-45GW by 2040.

However, Japan is surrounded by deep coastal waters that limit the potential range for building offshore wind farms. PowerX wants to change the way the world stores and transmits renewable energy with a unique solution that can remove site constraints for power generation and provide greater flexibility in building offshore wind farms, especially for an island country like Japan.

PowerX will design and build an automated power transfer vessel (Power Transfer Vessel) with a huge battery payload integrated with a control system to transport wind power to shore.

Using a submarine cable usually requires expensive construction, which also has a significant impact on the environment. In comparison, a power transmission vessel is disaster-resistant, requires less development time and cost, has minimal environmental impact and therefore has the potential to significantly expand the potential of offshore wind power, the company claims.

Power ARK 100, the first model in the Power ARK series, is a 100TEU trimaran specifically designed to transmit renewable energy in coastal waters in Japan. When completed in 2025, the vessel will carry 100 batteries or 200 MWh of energy (equivalent to the total electricity consumption of 22,000 Japanese households per day).

The vessel can sail up to 300 km, operating solely on electricity, and will pioneer the concept of intercontinental long-distance clean energy transportation, PowerX claims.

To realize its vision, PowerX will also build a giant battery assembly plant for the ship. According to the company's plans, the plant's annual production capacity will reach 1 GWh by 2024 and 5 GWh by 2028. PowerX's innovations will ultimately enable clean power transmission between any two ports on the planet, accelerating the adoption of renewable energy sources.

Source: saurenergy

Illustration: PowerX