The idea behind “Deep Sea Chargers” is our pursuit for a shipping industry dominated by electric ships, where electricity is generated through clean energy, for a cleaner world. By studying Tesla’s superchargers and its potential impacts, we aim to further develop the chosen innovation for charging electric ships.

Our project thus aims to incentivise the entire shipping industry to switch to electricity as the main source of energy for their ships through convenience and accessibility.

Each charging station measure 75m by 75m, consisting of 1248 400W solar panels on platforms above the sea that absorb solar energy. 24 Tidal turbines that make use of underwater sea currents to generate electricity would be installed under the platform (Refer to Figure 1). In total, we have calculated that it would generate 11000kWh of power, which is enough to charge 3 electric ships consecutively.

Electricity collected will be stored in a central battery cell on the platform. Ship owners can easily drop their charging cables into a receiving funnel on the charging ports, allowing their ships to be charged.

As the charging stations do not contain flimsy components and moving parts, it is robust and reliable. Regular maintenance is also minimised.

The charging stations will be installed in the North Atlantic Ocean between North America and Europe (Refer to Figure 2). The ocean is busy region with high shipping density, hence maritime traffic is high and charging stations would benefit more electric ships passing through.

The North Atlantic Ocean contains the Gulf Stream with  strong ocean currents of 6.4km/h on average and a maximum of 9km/h. These speeds would fulfill tidal turbines ideal speed of 1.5m/s-3.5m/s, allowing them to collect a steady stream of electricity.

North Atlantic Ocean also has a high mean solar irradiance of 220-240 W/m2.. Solar panels would be able to receive a high amount of solar energy at this region. Sea surface temperature is 10-12℃, which is within the optimum operating temperature of 25℃ for the solar panels.

Charging stations will be implemented in phases from 2020 onwards, given that electric ships are currently in production and there are only a limited number of operational electric ships. They will be opened in tandem with the production of electric ships.