MOL in partnership to develop hydrogen and wind powered vessel

Photo: MOL 201130b.jpg
Strong wind periods: wind energy propulsion and hydrogen storage
Japan’s Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) has joined a corporate-academic partnership to develop zero-emission vessels to be powered by hydrogen fuel and wind.

Named the Wind Hunter Project, the zero-emission initiative seeks to combine wind propulsion sailing technology and wind energy converted to generate a stable supply of hydrogen.

The partnership includes MOL, Ouchi Ocean Consultant, Inc., National Maritime Research Institute (NMRI) of National Institute of Maritime, Port and Aviation Technology (MPAT), Smart Design Co, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences of the University of Tokyo, West Japan Fluid Engineering Laboratory, ClassNK, and Miraihene Planning LLC.

The group held its first meeting this month.

“As a first step, the project team will demonstrate feasibility study of such concept using a sailing yacht and verify the function and performance of a series of cycle operations, i.e., turbine power generation, hydrogen generation/storage and fuel cell related propulsion. The next step will be a demonstration using a larger vessel,” MOL stated.

MOL, which is currently working on the Wind Challenger Project to develop sailing technology, will apply this technology to the Wind Hunter Project and combine hydrogen carriers and fuel cells with hydrogen-generated by electrolyser which the power is generated by power generation turbine.

This combination of sail and hydrogen technology will enable vessels to sail on schedule even in the periods of low wind and the project team plans to study about the application of supplying hydrogen generated at sea for onshore use. Both of these applications are aimed at creating a zero-emission business free of any greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.