HydroWing, part of Inyanga Marine Energy Group, has designed the Quad Hull Barge, which it believes will help drive down the cost of installation and maintenance for its patented tidal stream array technology.
Commercialisation of the tidal energy sector has so far been held back by high operational and maintenance costs. Richard Parkinson, managing director of Inyanga Marine Energy Group, said: “Deployment, recovery, and operations and maintenance are large factors in determining the levelised cost of electricity (LCOE). However, offshore construction vessel availability is very weak with expensive day rates. This means that the cost of planned and unplanned offshore operations is very high. HydroWing’s new Quad Hull Barge has been specifically designed to tackle this issue, driving down costs and ensuring the turbines can be effectively maintained at low cost and with reduced downtime.”
He explained that by using four hulls connected by crossbeams and arch support beams, the limit to load width is dramatically increased. “Where commercial vessels would typically need to place the load onto the deck with little to no overhang of the load, the Quad Hull Barge locks the load after lifting to the arch. This reduces offshore handling and makes the operation much safer. It means that the width of the load can be independent of the vessel width,” he added.
The modular design of the barge means it can be transported by road and assembled at site. This design element also means it can be easily scaled up for larger turbines.
Further still, Parkinson explained, the new barge allows for its HydroWing tidal energy arrays to be serviced by existing port infrastructure, rather than requiring major new investment, something he describes as “one of the keys to ensuring that the sector achieves profitable growth into the future”.
The company has filed a patent application for its Quad Hull Barge design. Its portfolio includes the largest tidal stream project in Wales to be successful in the UK’s latest contracts for difference (CfD) round, having been awarded a 10 MW project at the Morlais tidal energy site in Anglesey.
