China starts building world's largest electric cruise ship with 1,300 passengers

CATL, China's largest lithium battery manufacturer, has announced that it will help China build the world's largest electric cruise ship. The capacity of the liner "Three Gorges of the Yangtze River No. 1" will be 1,300 people. The total capacity of the ship's batteries is the same as that of more than a hundred electric vehicles - 7.5 MWh. Charging will be carried out from the electric grid of hydroelectric power plants - there is simply nowhere "greener".

Project of the river cruise electric liner "Three Gorges of the Yangtze River No. 1"

The Yangtze River Three Gorges No. 1 ”(“ Three Gorges of the Yangtze River No. 1 ”) is a high-tech ship research and development demonstration project jointly developed by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Transport of the People's Republic of China, and Wuxi Saisiyi Electric Technology Co. CATL, China Yangtze Power and Hubei Yichang Transportation Group, and other divisions. Obviously, if successful, other vessels of this class will be built.

The batteries involved in the project are lithium-iron-phosphate batteries in the amount of 10 thousand pieces, divided into 15 independent accumulator stations and spaced across four compartments. Each battery cell contains a temperature sensor and is automatically controlled. In case of fire, a double fire extinguishing system is provided based on spraying heptafluoropropane and pressurized water mist. A backup battery unit is provided. The vessel is driven by three rotary electric motors and a separate propulsion unit for lateral movement.

The ship is promised to be launched in July 2021 and put into operation in November 2021 after the completion of sea trials. The project of the vessel was approved in 2018. The transition of one cruise liner to electricity will reduce annual emissions into the atmosphere by 14 tons of carbon monoxide, 17 tons of nitrogen oxide and 0.4 tons of particulate matter.

A source: cnTechPost