Harnessing the Kinetic forces of Waves - the next Green Power for Ships
Richard Butcher
Managing Director | Leveraging Strategic Partnerships, Business Alliance Development
Alternative Fuel is the name of the game within the global maritime space the industry is facing greater pressure from Government and Environmental agencies to reduce their carbon footprints. Many Operators are taking this opportunity to replace their aging fleets with over $50 billion of new container vessels being ordered. The operators of these 300 new vessels are all evaluating which alternative fuel will power these vessels whilst in Port and entering carbon neutral regions. The demand for alternative fuel is at an all time high, as these Operators compare the costs and benefits of fuels such as :-
Other options have also been considered to help create power these have included :-
The biggest concerns for these operators will be the availability and costs for these new fuels, and this will be a burning issue as these new vessels leave the builders slipways.
Energy pricing are on the increase and Operators will have to start considering ways to reduce their significant fuel bills, of course many will look at clean fuel surcharges to be passed back to the Shipper, but ultimately much of these additional costs will burden the carriers OPEX costs and they will need to start thinking outside the conventional box to power these new vessel fleets.
However their is still one energy that has not been harnessed to its full extent by the Ocean Carriers and that is kinetic forces, the motion and power of waves. Tidal energy has been harnessed but within Vessels little has been adopted.
The kinetic energy created by the forward motion of a vessel generate huge lateral forces that are currently dispersed as the bow cuts through the ocean. That same energy if captured could help power a vessel running most of the equipment that is operational during the course of a voyage.
When Vessels are at anchor or alongside a berth they switch to their generators to run and operate essential equipment used across the ship. These generators are running either clean low Sulphur diesel or relying on ship to shore electrification power connections.
Ship to Shore power is very expensive for the terminals to adopt and not all have the ability to provide these services. So having a clean green alternative option is the key objective for the carrier groups.
Well a vessel even at berth will continue to sway creating motion and kinetic forces that provide a constant form of energy.
If you consider an average sea voyage for a container ship sailing from Shanghai to Rotterdam is 33 days imagine the energy that can be harvested during that voyage.
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Tier One Container Lines operate well over 5,000 container ships - imagine the kinetic energy that could be captured to help power these vessels.
The folks at Sostratus have been developing some unique solutions that can harness the kinetic energy of the vessels motions, using various energy nodes that can be situated throughout the vessel, the energy of movement from the fuel and water ballast tanks to palleted food within the ships freezers can be used to capture energy. We have even created nodes that can be fitted within the container cell guides capturing the slight movements of the TEU's that are stowed within those cells.
Depending on the number and size of the nodes deployed will determine the amount of KWH being generated. But imagine the ability of creating continual green energy for the duration of the vessels operational life.
The kinetic forces are captured and can be channeled directly back into the Ships main power network, or channeled into batteries which can be used as and when required. The level of efficient energy conversion is approximately 97.8% with minimal loss when converting into reusable AC or DC voltage.
Sostratus Technologies can clearly demonstrate a solid ROI model on deploying multiple energy nodes across a vessel, imagine having the ability of cutting your reliance on conventional and alternative fuel sources.
We believe that every new Vessel should be fitted with our solutions creating a true green solution to move operators to a true carbon free operating environment.
We are also working on a revolutionary energy solution that can be fitted into containers this will be a true game changer in the way the world of containers can help power the supply chain.
So for more information about our solutions and how these can be fitted into your new builds or retro-fitted to your existing fleet then please give Sostratus Technologies team a call.
The future will be a Green Clean Environment and it will be those Operators that plan their energy policies and start to adopt change building in these new areas in their future vessels will be the ones that will ultimately benefit and thrive in the long haul.
Prepared by Richard Butcher - Senior Energy Advisor - Maritime, Ports and Terminals - Sostratus Energy and Technologies Ltd