HMS Prince of Wales, the second of the U.K.’s Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers, has recently completed a successful sea trial in Scottish waters.
The ships are the largest ever built for the Royal Navy and the carriers are powered by GE’s energy-efficient, integrated full-electric propulsion system.
As part of the Aircraft Carrier Alliance, GE’s Power Conversion business has provided the HV Distribution system, HV Drives and Propulsion Motors as well as the Electrical Power Control and Management system.
GE also supplied the HV Generators to support generating power for the entire carrier. Out of the 110 megawatts (MW) of power running through the system, 80 MW can be dedicated to GE’s energy-efficient electric propulsion motors - that’s how much it takes to move the 65,000 ton carriers. To put that into context, that’s the amount of electricity needed to power a small town.
The Aircraft Carrier Alliance is a partnership between BAE Systems, the Ministry of Defence, Thales, and Babcock. Working together, the Alliance’s collective culture is one of an uncompromising commitment to trust, collaboration, innovation, and mutual support with all decisions taken on a best for program basis.
For almost three decades, GE has supported the Royal Navy with world-class technology. Today, the U.K. Royal Navy has more than 90% of its major ships operating with GE’s electric propulsion solutions, including HMS Queen Elizabeth, as well as the Type 45 destroyers, the new Type 26 frigates and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s Tide Class tankers.