Panasonic today announced a launching ceremony was held for the “EMERALD ACE”, a hybrid car carrier using natural energy, at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Kobe Shipyard. Panasonic has been undertaking the research and development of hybrid car carriers using natural energy, together with Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (Mitsui O.S.K. Lines) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries) since January, 2010. This project was selected by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to be part of its “Project to Develop Technologies for the Reduction of CO2 Emissions from New ships”.
In the upcoming project, Panasonic supplied Mitsui O.S.K. Lines with its solar panels (160kW planned) and lithium-ion rechargeable batteries (approximately 2.2MWh planned) as verification test units for marine vessels. Panasonic is aiming to establish technologies to reduce CO2 emissions from marine vessels with this hybrid system combining solar panels and lithium-ion rechargeable batteries and diesel generators commonly used in marine vessels. The electric power generated in the solar panels and stored in the rechargeable batteries will be mainly used while the ship is in harbor, allowing the diesel generators to be turned off while in harbor, contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions. The lithium-ion batteries, which will be used as ballast, will be located at the bottom of the ship, without affecting the stowage capacity.
This is a verification test project. Panasonic will continue to develop and offer a variety of energy solutions as a company with the technology of energy storage and creation.
