Power ARK

 

The Power ARK will have a battery storage capacity of 220 megawatts and will be charged at sea from offshore wind turbines and then the ship will return to shore to feed the power into the electrical grid.

 

A prototype of the ship is scheduled for completion by the end of 2025. 

 

PowerX will build an automated gigafactory in Japan to produce the needed batteries.

 

The primary differences between the Power ARK and a Windship are:

 

            1. The Windship will have a capacity of 1,933 megawatts storage capacity, 9 times as much as the Power ARK.

 

            2. Each Windship will be equipped with its own wind turbines which would allow one ship, or the entire Windship Farm consisting of a fleet of 5 Windships, to be positioned anywhere in the world where they are needed.

 

            3. The Windships will use proven Tesla batteries where the Power ARK will have to wait for the gigafactory in Japan to be designed and built.

 

            4. The Power ARK will be powered by a combination of electricity and biodiesel, while the Windships will be 100 percent electric-powered, giving it a zero carbon footprint.

 

            5. The Windships will be configured using current technology and equipment. The Power ARK and battery gigafactory are still in the planning stages.

 

            6. The first Windship will be ready to begin operations within 2 years of being funded, estimated to be December 2023, 2 years ahead of the Power ARK prototype.

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                                                           Risks

 

With any industrial activity, there is a risk to the environment. If the potential damage to the environment is rated on a scale of 1 to 1000 where the Exxon Valdez disaster is ranked at 1000, a catastrophic loss of a Windship would be ranked at less than 2 on that scale.

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            This estimate is based on the number of lithium batteries spontaneously bursting into flames on aircraft and transport trucks.

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            In Alaska’s Prince William Sound on March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil into the bay. It was the worst oil spill in U.S. history until the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in 2010. The Exxon Valdez crude covered over 1,200 miles of coastline and killed hundreds of thousands of seabirds, otters, whales, salmon, seals, and other marine life. The cleanup cost 7 billion dollars and, thirty-two years later, slicks of oil are still washing up on the beaches.

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            There have been almost 350 reported aviation and vehicle incidents involving lithium batteries resulted in an estimated cost of 425 million dollars, but with no loss of life or environmental damage.  

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                                                           Fire Suppression

 

The Novec 1230 fire suppression system will be installed in all Windships. It works by removing heat to extinguish fires. All fires need heat, oxygen, and a fuel source to continue to burn. By removing any of these three elements, a fire will be extinguished. Other fire suppression agents, such as carbon dioxide, remove oxygen. Novec removes heat instead of oxygen, making it safe to use in occupied spaces because it doesn’t pose a suffocation risk for people. The other important factor is that it will not damage equipment as a water fire suppression system would. The Novec system would be triggered when the temperature exceeds 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

 

                                               Hull Cleaning and Inspection

 

The hull of any seagoing vessel comes under attack by microorganisms, bacteria, and barnacles. This biofilm will result in increased drag and possible damage. A ship’s hull must be cleaned periodically to remove this threat.

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The Windships will use a Greensea crawler robot to clean the hulls