Foto: Stefano Gattini
From July 1 to 6, 2024, the famous Energy Boat Challenge will take place again in Monaco. The event is organized every year by the Yacht Club de Monaco (YMC) in collaboration with the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and aims to promote sustainability and alternative propulsion options. With the 11th edition of the sustainability competition, electric boats from 27 nations and more than 55 emission-free boats are expected in the Principality in July. The competition is divided into various categories, including solar and prototypes. The participants come from all over the world, including Canada, Croatia, Peru, Chile, China and Monaco, and present boats with electric or solar propulsion, some of which are prototypes and have not yet been launched on the market.
Premiere: Use of wings
The aim is to design a cockpit and the most efficient and durable propulsion system. Almost 50 percent of the projects presented use hybrid hydrogen technologies, while the remaining 11 teams rely 100 percent on lithium-ion batteries as energy storage. Each team can freely estimate its consumption depending on the choice of energy source and is allowed to produce energy during a race. The potential of the participating boats is assessed by a renowned jury; this year, twenty-one well-known universities have committed to this, including the University of Cambridge in England and the Technical University of Berlin. This year, a participating boat will also take to the air for the first time: The University of Cambridge has developed a watercraft equipped with small wings that can generate buoyancy that allows the hull to float just above the water.
Bathing in recycled water
Another novelty this year is the first autonomous, green hydrogen pontoon, which can fill 30 bottles and supply eight teams with green hydrogen. The system, which has been anchored in the YCM marina since January, is intended to supply the eight Energy Class teams in the run-up to the meeting, helping to reduce the event’s carbon footprint and promote the use of environmentally friendly energy resources.
At the same time, the Yacht Club de Monaco is continuing to work on conserving resources and has been using a system since last year that recycles water from its own swimming pool. This means that YCM members swim in recycled water, most of which is returned to the pool during filter cleaning. More than a million liters of water have already been treated in this way, which is the size of half an Olympic swimming pool. The water from this state-of-the-art so-called FGWRS system is also used to clean boats and water plants.
You can find this and other articles on electromobility & autonomous driving in the current eMove360° magazine. Order the print version in the shop or download the PDF for free.
