There’s a wellspring of power down under the seas that’s unlike any other. To tap into it, Japanese engineers built a genuine leviathan, a beast capable of withstanding the most powerful ocean currents and converting its flow into an almost unlimited supply of electricity.
IHI Corporation, a subsidiary of Japan’s Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, has been working on this technology for more than ten years. In 2017, the business teamed up with the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to put their innovations to the test.
The gadget can orient itself to find the most optimal position for generating electricity from the push of a deep-water current and channeling it into a grid when it is linked to the ocean floor by an anchor line and power cables.
To generate a substantial portion of its electricity, Japan is significantly reliant on fossil fuel imports. Japan is pushed to harness its technological expertise to take advantage of renewable energy sources, as public opinion against nuclear power has soured after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident.
The corporation ultimately completed a three-and-a-half-year field test in the waters off Japan’s southwestern coast in February 2022, marking a tremendous achievement. Kairyu, which means “ocean stream,” is the name for the 330-ton prototype. It consists of a 20-meter-long fuselage flanked by identical cylinders housing a power generation system connected to an 11-meter-long turbine blade.
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