Public Funding for Tension Technology International Limited

The MARLIN STAR project is the next phase in the development and commercialisation of an innovation that will enable coastal community access to stored and transferable energy from floating renewables. It supports several of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development and particularly #7 'Affordable and Clean Energy'. It will revolutionise traditional construction techniques for building large floating platforms. The MARLIN underwater construction system employs patent protected buoyancy and orientation control. It enables structures consisting of uniform sized hexagonal interlocking modules to be constructed at the point of use. Float Modules fit into standard ISO shipping containers for easy transport to any location. Mass manufacture techniques and assembly without the need for large port infrastructure or large floating cranes will reduce costs. Realistic energy access will bring significant improvements to quality of life in the most deprived areas. The MARLIN STAR project assesses the market and social conditions for implementation of floating offshore wind energy generation, storage and transfer in Bangladesh and India. A socio-technical approach will be used to inform the design, to optimise the longevity of future installations, and to enable local operation and maintenance by the communities independently. Numerical analysis and laboratory tests will be conducted at internationally recognised research facilities.ODA FUNDING REDUCTION AMENDED TO : A PROTOTYPE MODULAR FLOATING FOUNDATION WITH A WIND TURBINE WILL BE TESTED IN A REDUCED WATER DEPTH 'TOW-OUT' CONDITION IN A DRYDOCK

The aim of the Instream Tidal Energy Research (InTER) project is to design, build and test a 100 kW tidal energy device featuring two vertical axis turbines on a floating research platform. The project will develop a new platform technology that will enable Instream Energy Systems (Instream) to make the step from inland hydrokinetics and access tidal resources in the UK. Deployment and system testing of the prototype will take place in an appropriate marine environment with a simulated grid interface. Instream's technology aims to overcome many of the existing challenges in the tidal sector including high installation costs and access to shallow water resources to achieve lower-risk, cost-effective commercial projects. The InTER project builds on Instream and IT Power’s (ITP) recent platform concept design work and Instream’s existing rotor design. The resulting 'Turbine Deployment Unit' (TDU) will support 2 rotors. The key phases of the project will include, numerical and physical modelling, design, fabrication, assembly, deployment, commissioning, demonstration, and recovery. The consortium assembled has the expertise necessary to internally carry out the project phases.

Wave, tidal and offshore floating wind arrays could supply a significant amount (up to 20%) of the UK's energy needs. However, current weaknesses in mooring lines present a barrier for developers who are attempting to harness and exploit this energy source. This project is focused on investigating the feasibility of producing state-of-the-art multi-material hybrid end and in-line rope connectors. The components will incorporate a higher strength, lightweight corrosion resistant metal core with a high wear resistant nylon surface. To date multi-material solutions have never been used in these components and this will enhance the in-service life of the ropes. This will ultimately increase durability, reliability and productivity of the energy device as well as reduce maintenance and costs whilst improving safety.

Two of the major costs in mooring arrays will be the installation and the cost of top end connections of the mooring line to the device. This study seeks to prove out the technology of using fibre rope operating through a nylon lined fixed fairlead to replace conventional wire or chain systems. This concept may deliver a step-change reduction in CAPEX, OPEX and reduced installation cost. It is a lighter, easier to handle, no maintenance through life, lower cost system compared to conventional methods. If this concept works it will break through a major technological barrier and will apply to any marine device whether renewable, oil and gas or any other marine device responding to 1st order wave motions. A testing program will be conducted to verify the method and quantify the fatigue damage accumulation to enable system designers to calculate wear. A full scale prototype will be built and installed for a field trial and data accumulated to verify the laboratory research.