As the global transition to renewable energy accelerates, inequality in access to clean energy has become a major concern. PowerX aims to fill this gap by tapping into the potential of ships to supply power from offshore power plants to consumers in regions where the laying of underwater transmission infrastructure is either uneconomical or impractical due to the complex topography of the seafloor.

What is known about the giant floating power bank

PowerX company presented the intricate design of its first battery ship “X” at the prestigious Bariship International Maritime Show. 140 meters long and 18.6 meters wide, this ship has a draft of no more than 6 meters.

The electric-only battery ship can deliver environmentally friendly wind energy to consumers on land by traveling up to 300 kilometers. The ship’s advanced multi-channel cable systems optimize the discharge process by allowing energy to be discharged efficiently and quickly into the grid or onshore battery parks.

In its ambitious maximum configuration, the battery ship houses 96 industrial power storage systems with an impressive total capacity of 241 MWh.

PowerX highlights the scalability of battery design, pointing to the potential to build ships with even greater capacity in the future. Initially the main focus will be on optimizing the ship for short distance energy transport.

As battery technology continues to evolve, providing greater energy density in a smaller space, PowerX plans to expand its operations to transport larger amounts of energy over longer distances.

Battery Ship X: Watch the video

When the battery ship appears

The company plans to complete construction of its first battery-powered ship by 2025, followed by field testing in 2026. The success and widespread adoption of this new approach to energy transport remains uncertain.

It is important to note that although the use of ships can eliminate the energy losses normally associated with submarine cables, existing wind farms around the world are already connected to mainland infrastructure via cable networks.

The problems arose primarily in offshore wind farms in the UK, which have outgrown the adaptation of onshore power lines to their rapid generation. However, British authorities are quick to address these issues, questioning the urgent demand for innovative PowerX vessels.

However, there could be a potential niche for PowerX battery ships in the future, especially for the transmission of electricity generated by new deep-sea turbines for submarines. For example, Japan plans to test these turbines in the coming years as a promising and reliable energy source that is unaffected by the variability of the wind.

In such a scenario, the concept of storage vessels could find valuable application to land the energy produced by these submerged turbines.