Frontier Technical Ltd Public Funding

'MARLIN AQUA - Modular Floating Platform' for Aquaculture project aims explore/address the challenge of oceanic aquaculture by applying a 'Modular System Approach' enabling offshore floating platform configurations to be designed, analysed, assembled, and installed that directly respond to the customers' operational needs and constraints. Floating offshore wind for aquaculture is a new concept and has focussed on the application of utility scale turbines. Smaller individual products are feasible, and the modular approach reduces installation costs. Primary focus is on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14 - Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development. Overfishing of the sea and tidal rivers, estuaries, and deltas has resulted in depletion of precious fish stocks, it harms ecosystems and ultimately means that our oceans will be less abundant/productive for future generations. Aquaculture as a sector within the 'Blue Economy' is being driven by the need to provide a significant proportion of food for global populations. In this context, helps efforts to strengthen food security (SDG2), promote sustainable economic growth (SDG8), promote sustainable consumption and production (SDG12), as well as strengthen global partnerships for sustainable development (SDG17). A key area for growth being Atlantic salmon farming in Scotland, Norway, Canada, Chile, all with expansion plans in offshore operations (Ocean Energy Systems (OES) Ref: Offshore Aquaculture report April 2022). Shifting operations to deeper water provides opportunity to address the challenges associated with aquaculture in practice, with potential to positively impact: * Water quality management and disease control * Level of reliance on fossil fuels * Offshore operative H&S during fuel transfers Using a Design for NetZero people and planet systemic approach the project will explore: -With key stakeholders (fish farm owners/operators, industry, government, academia) the challenges, issues, pressures in the aquaculture sector enabling development of a platform designed based on their own practices/needs. -Identifying energy related opportunities to improve cost-effective installation, operation, and maintenance of the generating equipment. The project aims to help Frontier Technical overcome major constraints to transformational change in the sector, shifting away from motives that investment in innovation goes into extending the lifespan of existing systems that are, at heart, no longer fit for purpose. By looking at and beyond the problems inherent in the current practices allows the potential for a different system to emerge, evolving current practice, designing not only in a systems-conscious way, but a system-shifting way. Design outputs will support investment pitches or future funding applications.

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

Floating offshore wind in deep waters is a massive renewable energy resource ready to be tapped into to achieve carbon reduction targets. Prohibitive costs and advanced infrastructure requirement have limited growth of this sector even in developed countries. In developing countries the resource has remained entirely unexploited. Project MARLIN aims to test feasibility of a new cost-effective universal concept of modular construction of floating platforms for offshore wind. Using the concept of compact easily transportable modules as building blocks, the MARLIN team will design, construct and test models and prototypes of structures that will be capable of supporting wind turbines in all weathers in most of the coastal regions of the world. The modular floating platform technology will be developed for commercial exploitation and will form the basis of a new UK-based business. Beyond contributing to carbon targets the outcomes of the project could have transformative economic effects on coastal communities across the world.