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Solar Farms Out at Sea: Pioneering Clean Energy Advancements

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Picture solar farms like this: rows of solar panels generating electricity on circular rafts, braving waves as high as 10 meters in China’s Yellow Sea, about 30 kilometers off the coast of Shandong province. This experiment by State Power Investment Corp. and Ocean Sun AS is a groundbreaking test of offshore solar technology, offering new possibilities for clean energy.

 

Offshore solar farms have the potential to change the renewable energy sector by allowing renewable installations in sea locations. It offers a way for land-constrained regions to accelerate their transition away from fossil fuels. 

 

The versatility of offshore solar knows no bounds. Regions such as parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia, including places like Singapore and Hong Kong, are constrained by land, so this technology is of great interest. Shandong, an industrial hub, has ambitious plans to add over 11 gigawatts of solar offshore by 2025, and Jiangsu aims to add 12.7 gigawatts. Japan, the Netherlands, Malaysia, and other nations are also exploring similar ventures.

 

How can we benefit from solar farms?

 

The potential benefits are immense, with locations like Huainan in China’s Anhui province showcasing installations of about half a million floating solar panels on artificial lakes. Research suggests that adding solar systems on existing reservoirs could enable more than 6,000 global cities and communities to develop self-sufficient power systems.

 

While the idea holds great potential, there are still some unknowns. We need more studies to understand the lasting effects of placing solar panels on water bodies. In China, they have limited certain freshwater locations due to worries about how it might impact the environment.

 

Developers are actively experimenting with different concepts, such as Ocean Sun’s innovative ring-shaped floaters and SolarDuck AS’s triangular platforms. Although offshore solar may come with higher installation costs compared to onshore solar, it offers a unique opportunity for land-starved coastal cities like Singapore to embrace renewable energy.

 

In China alone, the forecast suggests a potential of about 700 gigawatts of offshore solar—equivalent to India and Japan’s combined electricity generation capacity. As this promising sector gains momentum, we have only begun to scratch the surface of its vast potential.

 

The future of renewable energy could very well lie offshore, where the sun’s rays meet the sea’s expanse.

Challenges of maritime transport in 2022

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For this year, the maritime sector is expected to face great challenges and, there are currently many determining issues on the table.

In the first place, the most talked-about issue refers to the reduction of greenhouse gases. Since the maritime industry is constantly researching and developing new fuels based on methanol, hydrogen, or ammonia and that can help the sector to meet its goal to reach zero emissions by 2050.

But, a very urgent issue is the digital transformation of the maritime sector and that must cover all areas: ships, shipping companies, terminals, ports, interfaces, and everything that can interfere with the transport chain.

On this particular point, we can assess some of the challenges the industry is currently facing and how it could minimize the crisis.

Today and as a result of 2 years of the pandemic, the supply chain is at risk and has revealed a very explicit motto “No shipping, no shopping” referring to the fact that if there are no ships transporting cargo, there is no trade and as consequently there will be no consumption.

 All this is a way to draw attention to the precarious life in the sea that is not consistent with the technological alternatives already used worldwide.

Interconnection, transparency in management, and new communications technologies can mark a before and after in the industry since the implementation of new cutting-edge tools facilitates the correct planning and execution in each step of the process and also offers advantages in terms of the economic recovery of the maritime sector.

To achieve these advances, software such as the AIMS Suite belonging to the GP Nauticals company can be implemented, which through different technologies can help not only in the automation of processes with its NAUTIC AIMS product, which allows all maritime services subject to taxable calculations. In addition to helping to manage contracts, concessions, commissions, providing the opportunity to involve billing, generation of reports and analysis of results, categorized as needed and always in real-time.

This type of software can be used by itself integrating with existing platforms or in conjunction with other AIMS Suite products that offer a more complete experience such as PAY AIMS which offers the opportunity to carry out a portfolio collection with a billing platform and gateway. reliable payment system with record history and 24/7 support.

The revolution in the maritime sector is just around the corner, all the factors involved cry out for more efficient processes, taking into account that trade is a key factor in all the economies of the world, we have committed ourselves to not being an industry that lags behind the rest.

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The first autonomous ships are ready to set sail

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After many tests of autonomous navigation, the first ships without crew members are ready to set sail and begin to serve next October.

This type of autonomous vessel has been developed mainly for the transport of river, and coastal cargo and according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) it has been working continuously since 2017 to guarantee that this type of vessel has a safe operation. Through constant evaluation of the various electronic devices that make autonomy a reality, such as in the implementation of international regulations, autonomous ships are a reality that is not only limited to their innovation since ports must also be prepared to meet this type of boat.

At the moment, the pioneering countries in this matter are China, Norway, and Japan, focusing their development on autonomous maritime surface ships (MASS), considering that an autonomous ship is a ship that can navigate without depending on human interaction. However, there are 4 types of autonomy for these boats: The first refers to those that have a crew, but their navigation system has automated processes that help in decision-making. Second, are ships that have seafarers on board, but the vessel is remotely controlled. Third, are those ships that are remotely controlled and have no crew on board. While the last type of ship is those 100% autonomous, capable of making decisions and determining actions by itself.

Whatever the degree of autonomy of these vessels, they must all be equipped to a lesser or greater extent with various technological tools such as: the internet, GPS, big data, artificial intelligence, IOT, sensors, robotics, and different software and hardware that will not only allow the navigation but its constant development.

It should be noted that this type of innovation will have a direct impact on the workforce of seafarers since although the ships will not have a crew on board, this type of development will always generate new jobs, only that they will be different, they will imply less physical strength and greater technological skills, but we will see the direction it takes as these changes become irreversible.