Page 11 - AsiaElec Week 01 2023

AsiaElec RENEWABLES AsiaElec

Drone tech to transfer energy

from floating PV sites

JAPAN
A firm in Japan is looking to use sub-surface in waterproof batteries before being shipped
drones and remotely operated sailing vessels to back to shore based facilities loaded aboard
move energy generated on a floating solar plat- remotely operated drone vessels. Sources in
form in the middle of one of the most densely Japan indicate that these drones could be a com-
populated areas on earth back to land in what is bination of surface sailing vessels as well others
thought to be the first such facility in the world. capable of travelling under the water.
In a project linking the Japanese duo of prop- A press release issued by the consortium in
erty developers Tokyu Land Corporation with late December said “This project is part of the
marine specialists Everblue Technologies, and Tokyo ESG Project, which aims to create a sus-
SolarDuck, a European offshore solar company, tainable city that looks 50 to 100 years into the
electricity produced at the site in Tokyo Bay future, and aims to implement cutting-edge tech-
will be transferred back to the coast by way of nologies in the fields of cutting edge renewable
unmanned sailing and underwater vessels. energy, next generation mobility, and environ-
News first broke of the floating solar farm in mental improvement and resource recycling.”
December last year under the name Tokyo Bay It will be the first such system employed to
ESG with the ‘e’ referring to the global environ- retrieve electricity by way of batteries using
ment and ecology, and the ‘S’ and ‘G’ respectively drones from offshore PV platforms in Japan, and
a nod to two Japanese industrialists from the late quite possibly the world.
19th and early 20th centuries often credited with The consortium went on to say that “the three
the laying down of much of modern day Tokyo’s companies aim to realize local production for
infrastructure, Shibusawa Eiichi, and Goto local consumption of energy in the Tokyo Bay
Shimpei. Area in the future through the practical applica-
Shibusawa’s mantra that “(R)ather than tion of Japan’s first offshore photovoltaic power
monopolizing the benefits of economic devel- generation system, the use of renewable energy
opment, it is important to give back to society to generated on the ocean to power electric-pow-
enrich the entire country” remains an aspect of ered boats, and the demonstration of marine
compulsory Japanese education to this day. transportation of storage batteries.”
When complete in the first quarter of 2024, In winning the contract from the Tokyo Met-
the 88 kW facility will remain tethered to land by ropolitan Government, the Dutch-Norwegian
industrial mooring lines to help counter extreme firm SolarDuck will be increasing its presence in
weather conditions in an area frequently affected Asia, having garnered much of its experience in
by typhoons come the late summer each year. European markets including at a 5 MW offshore
In opting to site the facility near some of the facility in the North Sea.
world’s busiest shipping lanes, the consortium EverBlue Technologies meanwhile, as the
said “Tokyo, a major energy consumption area, company responsible for the drone and battery
depends on power transmission from the sub- retreival technology to be employed, is now
urbs. The achievement of energy generation working to adapt existing yachts to operate on
and marine transportation in the Bay Area will fully renewable energy sources, primarily the
contribute to the realization of a unique urban wind. ™
model.”
Electricity generated at the site will be stored

Week 01 03•January•2023 www. NEWSBASE .com P11