Renewable resource generation through offshore windfarm electricity is taking a bold maritime leap through a floating power node innovation Maersk Supply Service is testing in tandem with Danish power utility Ørsted.
They are part buoy part power station - and Ørsted is currently in the process of testing Maersk’s breakthrough devices by integrating them into its power network.
They were initially developed to provide backup power for service vessels used in support of Ørsted’s vast distribution of offshore wind turbines but it’s now envisioned that the power buoys could be used to deliver eco-friendly energy to commercial ships.
Developed by Maersk Supply Service, a subsidiary of A.P. Moller-Maersk, they will reportedly be tested in the latter part of 2021.
It is hoped that up to 5.5 metric tonnes of CO2 emissions will be removed from the atmosphere by providing renewable resource alternatives to vessels - especially when they’re idle since fuel-burning electricity is mostly used for powering on-board applications.
In a best-case scenario Maersk Supply Service is also hoping to avoid sulphur and nitrogen oxide particles – SOx and NOx emissions.
In a video presentation posted online, the company says: “Every day thousands of vessels around the globe consume fuel for the sole purpose of powering auxiliary applications while on standby.”
With its buoy innovation, it goes on to say, it aims to eliminate all fossil fuel emissions stemming from the idle and anchored vessels with clean, renewable energy.
Should the buoys be rolled out once they have passed muster with Ørsted’s clean energy ethos, they will enable idle vessels to moor at offshore power points while drawing wind power for auxiliary services.
“At a global scale, our ambition is to enable vessel owners to turn engines off, thereby supporting a cleaner future for our oceans,” Maersk Supply Service says.