A Japanese energy storage start-up has launched that aims to develop a vessel that will transport stored electricity generated by offshore wind to sources of demand.
PowerX will design and build an automated power transfer vessel with “a massive battery payload” that is integrated with the shipʼs controls to transport offshore wind power to shore.
The very first model of the Power ARK series, “Power ARK 100” is a container ship specially designed for transferring renewable energy in Japanʼs coastal waters.
Upon its completion in 2025, Power ARK 100 will carry 100 grid batteries, equivalent to 200 megawatt hours of capacity.
The vessel will be able to travel up to 300 km when running only on electricity and will be able to “unlock long-distance, intercontinental clean power transmission when it is powered by both electricity and sustainable biodiesel fuels”.
To realise its vision, PowerX said it plans to build a gigascale battery assembly facility in Japan to mass produce batteries for the power transfer vessel.
The annual production capacity will achieve 1GWh by 2024 and will eventually reach 5GWh by 2028.