MOL’s Hybrid car carrier launch scheduled for June 2012

MOL recently announced that the exterior and basic design of the hybrid car carrier aiming at zero emissions while berthed had been determined. As a “project that develops systems to reduce CO2 emissions from ocean-going vessels,” the vessel earned a subsidy from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) in 2009. The vessel will be launched at the Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., Kobe shipyard in June 2012.

The vessel will be equipped with a hybrid electric power supply system that combines solar power panels for generation with lithium-ion batteries for power storage. The system is the result of a cooperative study group of experts from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Sanyo Electric Group, and MOL. With solar panels on every bit of flat, exposed upper deck space, this system generates some 160 kW, more than ten times as much as current systems on other ships, making it the most powerful system of its type in the world.

The lithium-ion batteries can store some 2.2 MWh of electricity, and the power generated by the panels while the ship is under way is stored in the batteries and used to power the ship’s systems while it is berthed. The system eliminates the need for diesel-powered generators, enabling the ship to achieve zero emissions at the pier.

In addition, the lithium-ion batteries are placed in the bottom of the vessel, taking the place of fixed ballast, so they have no effect on the number of vehicles the vessel can carry. The logo SOLAR HYBRID is painted on the sides of the vessel near the stern to identify its hybrid system and its use of natural energy.

The development of this vessel was subsidized by the MLIT as a “project that develops systems to reduce CO2 emissions from ocean-going vessels”, and it is supported as a “cooperative development project to reduce greenhouse gases produced by ocean shipping” from the Nippon Kaiji Kyokai.

The power supply system represents a significant step forward in realizing ISHIN-I, the concept for the next-generation car carrier that the company announced in September 2009. MOL is pursuing aggressive development of technologies to help reduce the burden on the environment caused by ocean-going vessels.