A Mitsui OSK Lines (MOL) coal carrier could be operating the first installation of a hard sail dubbed the Wind Challenger by 2022 under plans unveiled on Tuesday.

The Japanese shipowner and partner Tohoku Electric Power are pressing ahead with the trials after initial investigations into its suitability proved successful.

It has been confirmed that a vessel equipped with a Wind Challenger can access port facilities of the power plants owned by Tohoku, the two companies said.

Both companies said they plan to verify the system’s impact on discharging operations, its effects on greenhouses gases while the ship is underway with an eye toward launching the world’s first vessel equipped with the device after 2022.

The Wind Challenger is a telescoping hard sail that is designed to convert wind energy into propulsive force and has been under development for close to a decade.

It has been developed by a group of Japanese companies including MOL and Japanese shipbuilder Oshima Shipbuilding.

The Wind Challenger Project started in 2009 as an industry-academia joint research project led by The University of Tokyo.

From 2013, it was chosen to receive “subsidy for next-generation marine environment-related technology research” by japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MILT).

In January 2018, MOL and Oshima took charge of the plan and now play a central role in this project.

The Wind Challenger Project started in 2009 as an industry-academia joint research project led by The University of Tokyo.

From 2013, it was chosen to receive “subsidy for next-generation marine environment-related technology research” by Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MILT).

In January 2018, MOL and Oshima took charge of the plan and now play a central role in this project.

Earlier this month the two companies obtained approval in principle (AIP) for the concept from Japanese class society ClassNK.

It is forecast that the hard sail would reduce a vessel’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 5% on a Japan-Australia voyage, and about 8% on Japan-North America west coast voyage.