It had to happen sooner, or later. We already have grid scale electricity, so why not floating storage traveling across the ocean. A Japanese company is already building a large battery tanker, as they call it, according to New Atlas.Com. And they expect their 640-foot vessel to be able to transport 241-megawatt-hours of renewable energy across open waters by 2025.
Transporting Renewable Energy in a Large Battery Tanker
The logic is quite simple really, once you get your mind around it. We already generate large-scale renewable energy at central points, and then transmit it across grids. So let’s ship it across the ocean the developers say, to where it is needed most.
Our first response was why not send the energy down an undersea cable? Then we thought again, and realized Japan has myriads of islands, and any one of these might have an urgent need. And moreover, the crisis might have damaged the underwater network. So it seemed to us to make a deal of sense to have a go anywhere, anytime large battery tanker on call.
How Would This Service Work In Practice?
The company, Power X already owns several battery factories. And therefore sourcing ninety-six container size lithium-ion-phosphate battery modules should not be a problem. The plan is to locate these giant batteries throughout the ship, together with sundry controllers and chargers.
However and here’s a bit of a catch, the vessel dead-weight will be a real drain on its electric propulsion systems. For this reason, the maximum practical range will be just short of 300 miles. But this is just a start the developers insist.
They already have a larger vessel on the drawing board capable of shifting far greater amounts of renewable energy. But at this stage the concept can’t compete with mains grid power in terms of costs.
Although it does seem this large battery tanker could be a great resource in an emergency, and a larger version could make the difference to victims gazing across the empty horizon for signs of hope.
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