The Innovations

The 18th of April was an expected and important day for Energy Observer, which has equipped itself with a new technological brick for wind propulsion: two Oceanwings®, rotating, self-supporting and 100% automated, which will increase the vessel’s speed and produce hydrogen during navigation by sea water electrolysis.

Energy Observer has been examined with a fine-tooth comb. Every nook of its decks, floats and infrastructure is now fitted with custom photovoltaic panels. A technical conundrum for Hugo Devedeux, on-board engineer who is in charge of the solar component of the experimental catamaran optimization project.

The fuel cell is the centrepiece of the hydrogen chain. It converts the hydrogen into electricity by reversing the electrolysis process. The system on Energy Observer was tailor-made by CEA-Liten engineers and provides 20 kW of pure electric power.

The experimental catamaran has clocked up 16 months of full-on sailing. Roland Reynaud, engineer on board, and Didier Bouix, engineer at the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA-Liten) carried out a full check of Energy Observer’s on-board hydrogen chain. And all’s well!

Although it’s an inexhaustible resource at sea, wind is still difficult to exploit for large scale maritime transport. In its role as an experimental vessel, Energy Observer has set its mission to test all of the available and promising solutions.

Wind may be an infinite resource at sea, but its exploitation remains a challenge for large-scale maritime transport. During the first campaigns around France and in the Mediterranean sea, the Energy Observer tested two vertical-axis wind turbines for producing energy, and a traction kite to reduce energy consumption.

Solar energy is the primary source of energy production aboard the Energy Observer. The team enjoyed optimal sunshine whilst navigating in the Mediterranean where they fully exploited the potential of the photovoltaic panels covering the hulls, nacelle and wings of the craft.

Energy Observer has just come out of the water for a three-month technical pause. Three months of work during which the hydrogen powered catamaran will undergo optimizations and transformations before taking up its world tour again next spring.

Energy Observer is of course a marine vessel and a media platform, but above all it’s a floating laboratory. The crew has tasked itself to test, over six years and in extreme conditions, an innovative energy architecture, heralding tomorrow’s energy systems.

Francis Joyon, Ellen MacArthur and before them, Mike Birch, winner of the first Route du Rhum and Sir Peter Black, Enza, have put their trust in Nigel Irens to design their record-chasing engines. Energy Observer came off the naval architect’s drawing board in 1983 under the name of Formule TAG.

Energy Observer’s Late Morning Departure on Thursday, August 16 from Saint-Tropez and arrival this Saturday, August 18 in Menorca, in the archipelago of the Balearic Islands of Spain. Sailing worth 250 nautical miles (460 kilometers) where a pressure drop assisted the demonstrator ship during the crossing.

Launched in April 2017, Energy Observer, the first hydrogen vessel around the world, reached the Mediterranean part of its Odyssey toward the Future in Marseille last March. Now, at its halfway point, captain and founder Victorien Erussard has conducted the first technical and technological assessment.