Kansai Electric Power Co. has begun developing small electric-powered ships equipped with storage batteries in an effort to help with decarbonization and create a solution to the labor shortage in the marine shipping industry.
The company will begin selling the ships, which will be marketed as water buses, to municipalities and corporations as early as 2023.
KEPCO is working with e5 Lab Inc., a Tokyo-based company in which Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. and other companies have invested. KEPCO will develop a wireless charging and discharging system that will enable the ship to recharge its own batteries without having to be connected to equipment at the docks. The company e5 Lab will be in charge of designing the ship's hull among other things.
The electric-powered vessel is expected to be 15 meters long, will be able to carry 60 passengers and travel about 20 kph.
Unlike conventional vessels that require diesel or other types of fuel, the water buses will not emit carbon dioxide and will create less noise and vibrations. The electric-powered ship will reduce workload as well because it can be wirelessly recharged.
KEPCO said the ship, which will be equipped with storage batteries equivalent to four or five electric vehicles, could supply electricity to buildings near the water in the event of a disaster. The company is also considering the possibility of equipping the ship with self-driving technology in the future.
The company hopes to have the ships operating at Osaka-Kansai Japan Expo 2025, which will be held on Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay.
"We'd like to introduce it as a new and comfortable mode of transportation to the expo site," a KEPCO official said.
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