Japan’s Eco Marine Power (EMP) has announced its Aquarius Marine Renewable Energy system has received approval in principle (AiP) from classification society ClassNK
The Aquarius Marine Renewable Energy (MRE) is an integrated system of rigid sails, marine-grade solar panels, energy storage modules, a charging system and marine computers that enables ships to tap into renewable energy by using wind and solar power.
A computer system helps to automatically position the array of sails to best suit the prevailing weather conditions and these can then be lowered and stored when not in use or during bad weather.
EMP chief technology officer Greg Atkinson said the AiP is a milestone for the Aquarius MRE project. “We believe our scalable and flexible marine renewable energy system will provide an important source of zero-emissions power and propulsion for ships and assist the shipping industry to meet its decarbonisation objectives.”
Two integrated sub-systems - EMP’s proprietary Energysail and the Aquarius Marine Solar Power are integrated to form Aquarius MRE and various other equipment and sensors can also be connected within this system architecture.
The rigid sails are based on Energysail and can be stowed when the ship is at anchor or in harbour. Each EnergySail can be configured with a mix of sensors, photovoltaic panels or other power-generation devices.
Aquarius Marine Solar Power is an energy management system to utilise solar power that includes photovoltaic modules, batteries, an electrical system and control system.
The Aquarius MRE development project involves a number of companies working as strategic partners with EMP including KEI System, Teramoto Iron Works and The Furukawa Battery Company. Several shipowners are also co-operating with EMP in planning sea trials of the complete system and undertaking studies regarding the use of renewable energy systems on board ships.
The company has also commenced a feasibility study into installing the Aquarius MRE on an LR2 tanker and is collaborating with solar cell expert F-WAVE Company to jointly develop ship integrated photovoltaic technology.
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