Energy Observer: A Sustainable Energy Laboratory and French Pioneer Stop in New York

The Energy Observer is on call in New York until April 22. The boat was a racing catamaran that belonged to sailor Mike Birch, and has been completely modified and strengthened in its structures to accommodate the technologies on board. How does this work? a laboratory vessel, the destination of the energy transition and a summary of high technologies?

Stop in New York for the ship Energy Observer, a French pioneer

The Energy Observer, a sustainable energy laboratory

The Energy Observer is a completely independent and non-polluting boat, thanks to a combination of technologies that make it possible to benefit at the same time from solar energy, wind energy, and hydrogen properties.

Solar energy is the ship’s main resource thanks to the complete coverage of its structure with photovoltaic panels, which convert the sun’s rays into electricity. These latest generation panels cover an area of ​​about 200 square meters.

Wind energy is captured by two vertical Oceanwings wings, rotating 360 degrees, with an area of ​​31.5 square meters each and held by two vertical masts, one to port and the other to starboard.

The third source of energy on board the Energy Observer comes from hydrogen, produced by hydroelectricity after decontamination, compressed to 350 bars, stored in eight tanks and used by a fuel cell on board, developed in partnership with Toyota. The process does not release oxygen into the open air only, so it is completely non-polluting.

The electricity produced on board by these different technologies is stored in batteries with a total weight of 1400kg.

All the systems are controlled by a “brain”, the Energy Management System-EMS, which uses a Rockwell computer, and allows the crew to control and manage the equipment and the amount of energy.

The Energy Observer visited 45 countries

Over the past six years, the Energy Observer has been able to prove its concept by traveling more than 64,000 nautical miles in cold or warm seas and visiting more than 45 countries .

These futuristic technologies open the way to an ecological transition for the merchant fleet and cruise lines, by showing that it is possible to do without fossil fuels for maritime transport.