Sustainability

Powerships: enhancing energy resilience in emergencies and underserved areas

05/06/2023

Powerships, invented at the beginning of the 20th century in the US, are floating power plants placed within a vessel designed to generate and supply electricity to a given location or region.

They were used extensively during World War II, provided by the major player General Electric. It allowed the American troops to be always supplied with electricity. Most powerships are located in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, off the coasts of developing countries, but also where the drastic increase in population has been followed by a multiplied energy consumption. In the batch we find several African countries such as Gambia, Ghana but also Indonesia, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic.

We periodically publishes articles outlining the ins and outs of the business. This is the Riverlake Article Series.