Wind Hunter creates electricity

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines’ (MOL) “Wind Hunter Project”, which is striving to develop the ultimate zero-emission ship, has entered a new phase.

Wind plus hydrogen

The experimental ship “WINZ MARU” has moved its demonstration fields from Omura Bay in Nagasaki Prefecture to Tokyo Bay and has begun technological research to unload hydrogen carrier (MCH) produced during navigation for onshore use. While project members predict that “the true growing pains towards the commercialization of the Wind Hunter are yet to come,” they are beginning to get a solid response to the realization of the world’s first type of ship which no one has ever imagined before.

Wind plus hydrogen

MOL’s Wind Hunter is a ship that navigates by capturing the offshore wind with sails. However, unlike any other ship MOL has ever built, it generates electricity by turning underwater turbines with the wind, electrolyzes seawater to produce hydrogen, stores the hydrogen carrier as MCH, and transports it to locations where energy is needed. This means it is a “hybrid plant combining offshore wind power generation and hydrogen production facilities”. When there is no wind, it navigates using the stored hydrogen as energy. In other words, it is a ship that achieves the ultimate zero-emission with no greenhouse gas emissions at all.

MOL has already commercialized the “Wind Challenger”, which uses a retractable rigid sail installed at the fore of the ship to harness wind power and assist the engine’s propulsion. The Wind Hunter, as an “evolved version” of the Wind Challenger, navigates with multiple rigid sails erected on the deck.

A yacht for testing

To prepare for its practical application, the experimental ship “WINZ MARU” was first put into action. WINZ MARU is a small vessel- a pleasure yacht measuring 12m (approx. 39.4 ft) long. Various equipment was retrofitted, and the experiments began in 2021 at the testing fields in Omura Bay, Nagasaki, Japan.

First, the experiments focused on verifying the following in the “hydrogen production mode”:
1. Whether the turbines (also functioning as propellers) could generate electricity by harnessing offshore wind
2. Whether water could be electrolyzed to produce hydrogen using the generated electricity
3. Whether the produced hydrogen could be stored

As for the “hydrogen consumption mode”, the experiments aimed to verify:
1. Whether the stored hydrogen could be extracted for use as the ship’s energy source
2. Whether electricity could be generated via fuel cells
3. Whether the yacht could be propelled using an electric propeller

The results showed that wind power generation could achieve 1.0-kilowatt, hydrogen production via electrolysis could produce about 1.0 liter per minute, and in consumption mode, the hydrogen-powered fuel cells could generate approximately 1.0 kilowatt, enabling the yacht’s propulsion with an electric propeller.

Bron: MOL Japan

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