First Low-Carbon Floating Wind Installation Vessel Gets UK Funding

The UK government has awarded funding to a consortium led by Morek Engineering to design a new class of low-carbon installation vessel for the floating offshore wind market.

The consortium, which includes Morek Engineering, Solis Marine Engineering, Tope Ocean, First Marine Solutions and Celtic Sea Power, won the funding through the UK Government’s Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition.

The outline vessel design will be ready for engagement with classification societies to achieve approval in principle by early 2025.

“This will be a first-in-class low-carbon vessel designed specifically to meet the complex installation requirements of floating offshore wind farm moorings and foundations. The project aims to align the detailed requirements of the emerging Floating Wind sector with the objectives of the UK maritime decarbonization agenda.

“Floating offshore wind needs a cost-effective solution to deliver serialized installation of huge moorings and floating foundation systems, whilst minimizing carbon emissions during the construction and maintenance of the next generation wind farms. We are going to develop the next generation of offshore wind construction vessels, meeting the challenge head on,” said Bob Colclough, MD of Morek Engineering.

According to Ian Godfrey, MD of Tope Ocean, the project will entail a highly detailed feasibility study into the requirements of the emerging global floating offshore wind sector for a new class of low-carbon installation vessel.

“The new vessel will be designed to carry out complex, high-energy construction tasks within the duty cycle constraints of future low and zero-carbon fuel systems,” Godfrey said.

The latest round of Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition is part of the Department’s UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emissions (UK SHORE) program, a $260 million (£206 million) initiative focused on developing the technology necessary to decarbonize the UK domestic maritime sector.