It has been announced that a multi-hulled catamaran powered by wind, sun and hydrogen — currently being built in France — will set off in February on a six-year circumnavigation of the globe.
The Energy Observer is in a shipyard at Saint Malo, awaiting the installation of solar panels, wind turbines and electrolysis equipment.
The vessel was designed in partnership with a team of naval architects and the Grenoble-based CEA-Liten research institute, which is dedicated to renewable-energy technologies.
It will be fitted with sensors to act as a “moving laboratory” for the institute, whose director Florence Lambert describes the project as a “great challenge”.
She said: “The Energy Observer is emblematic of what will be the energy networks of tomorrow, with solutions that could even be used within five years. For example, the houses of tomorrow could incorporate a system of hydrogen storage, so that hydrogen produced during the summer months can be used in the winter.”
Victorien Erussard, who is behind the project, will make the journey with Jacques Delafosse, a documentary film maker and professional scuba diver. Mr Erussard said: “We are going to be the first boat with an autonomous means of producing hydrogen.
"The plan is for the boat’s batteries, which will feed the electric motors, to be powered in good weather by solar and wind energy. If there’s no sun or wind, or if it’s night-time, stored hydrogen — generated by electrolysis powered by the solar panels and two wind turbines — will take over.”