World's Biggest Electric Cruise Vessel Completes Sea Trials

‘Yangtze River Three Gorges 1’ is the biggest electric cruise vessel in the world to date. It has returned to Yichang, its homeport, after its trial voyage. This electric vessel is the world’s first electric cruise ship to achieve “zero emissions” as it operates on hydropower generated from the Three Gorges Dam.

It has the maximum battery capacity possible in its segment and is enabled with the most advanced and secure intelligence algorithms. The ship has been powered by a 7500 KWH power battery. The battery capacity is more than 100 electric vehicles.

The vessel will be fitted and furnished by the time it becomes operational from April 2022. It will cater to sightseeing on the Yangtze River close to Yichang. The ship’s length is 100 meters and its width is more than 16 meters. It can carry about 1,300 guests.

China Yangtze Power manufactured the vessel under China Three Gorges Corporation and China’s Hubei Yichang Transportation Group. The aim behind its construction was to make the best use of green transportation and clean energy.

With cruise voyages as the starting, the group is expected to be expanding the growth of the maritime electric vehicle or EV market. In the process, it will integrate electrical charging points. The points will be along with the river system and mark a new start for the green maritime transport sector.

As reported on 12 January 2022, the capacity of installed clean energy of China’s Three Gorges Corporation had crossed 100M kilowatts with water power almost 70% of the installed capacity. This indicated that the Yangtze secured its position as the largest and most significant renewable water corridor globally.

In 2021, the same group had produced electricity worth over 340B KWH via renewable sources. The generated amount can replace almost 100M tons of coal and also reduce CO2 emissions by nearly 280 million tons.

Reference: defence.pk