MOL deploys solar on board car carrier

   Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. has completed its new “hybrid” car carrier, Emerald Ace, which relies heavily on solar energy to generate zero emissions.
   The vessel is equipped with a hybrid electric power supply system that combines a 160 kilowatt solar system – jointly developed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Panasonic Group, and MOL – with lithium-ion batteries that can store about 2.2 megawatt-hours of electricity.
   Electricity is generated by the solar power generation system while the vessel is under way. The diesel-powered generator is completely shut down when the ship is in berth, and the batteries provide all the electricity it needs, resulting in zero emissions at the pier.
   Development of the Emerald Ace was subsidized by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism as a project to help reduce CO₂ emissions from ocean-going vessels, and received support from Nippon Kaiji Kyokai as a cooperative development project to reduce greenhouse gases produced by ocean shipping operations.