Green PCTC claims zero emissions at berth

Emerald Ace is part of a project to reduce CO2 emissions from ocean-going vessels, and earned MOL a subsidy from Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) in 2009. Emerald Ace is scheduled for delivery in June 2012, when it will begin test operations of its hybrid power system. The hybrid system is seen by MOL as a significant step towards realizing its ISHIN-I next-generation car carrier concept that the company announced in September 2009. The 199m long ship has a capacity for 6,400 standard passenger cars.

The Emerald Ace is equipped with a hybrid electric power supply system that combines a 160kW solar generation system, jointly developed by MHI, Energy Company of Panasonic Group (formerly known as Sanyo Electric) and MOL, with lithium-ion batteries with a total capacity of about 2.2MWh. Electricity produced by the solar power system while under way is stored in the batteries, which will allow the ship’s diesel generators to be shut down while in port, which MOL says will result in zero emissions at the pier.

MOL says that development was subsidised by the MLIT as a development project for 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 Nippon Kaiji Kyokai.