Tidal Transit, which has been supplying purpose-designed crew transfer vessels (CTVs) to offshore wind farm developers and operators for over ten years, is a partner in two projects which have been awarded funding in the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) which is funded by the Department of Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK.
The CMDC Showcase at the recent COP26 in Glasgow was hosted in the International Maritime Hub from where Tidal Transit’s Commercial Director Leo Hambro, said:
“Maritime decarbonisation is a vitally important climate change initiative and I was delighted when the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced multi-year funding for the CMDC in the recent Budget.”
Tidal Transit is one of the partners in a study being led by applied technologies company Artemis Technology to investigate transformative solutions to decarbonise CTV operations in the offshore wind sector. It will include a full mission simulation of an eFoiler™ propelled CTV undertaking crew transfer operations, as well as providing a regulatory roadmap towards certification of the technology.
The company is also part of a consortium led by MJR Power and Automation to fast track the development and demonstration of an offshore wind on-turbine electrical vessel charging system. The charge points will enable all electric CTVs and other offshore support vessels to connect in the offshore wind farm field to a 100% green energy source generated directly by the offshore wind turbines for the efficient, safe and reliable transfer of power.
Stuart Barnes, Regional Partnership Manager for ORE Catapult said: “Offshore wind provides clean, green, low carbon energy to the UK, and provides a fantastic springboard for the broader decarbonisation of the maritime sector. However, just like with the transition to electric vehicles we are seeing on land, the maritime sector must not only develop cleaner vessels but also build the infrastructure required to charge them in the field.
“ORE Catapult is pleased to be supporting this collaborative project, working with Tidal Transit and industry partners to show that modern, efficient, electric vessels can charge their batteries directly from the wind turbines they are helping to maintain.”
Leo Hambro believes Tidal Transit will make an important contribution to the success of these two projects, saying:
“Over the last 10 years our fleet of purpose-designed CTVs has undertaken thousands of crew transfer operations, so we are bringing a wealth of knowledge and experience to both these innovative projects.”
He added: “As the number of global offshore wind farms continues to increase, there will be increased use of CTVs and other offshore support vessels to maintain the offshore wind turbines; therefore it is vitally important that the maritime industry is able to reduce the CO2 emissions associated with these vessel operations.”
