720787Surface Supplied Installation System (SISS) for Community Scale PLAT-O ArraysClosedGRD Development of PrototypeInnovate UKSME is aiming to reduce the levelised cost of tidal energy (LCOE) by reducing the capex and opex of its tidal energy platform, PLAT-O. A reduced levelised cost of energy will ensure that SME will be able to deliver profitable projects at a community scale (3MW). SME has identified that by removing the pull down system and hydraulics from the platform this can be achieved. The prototype platform, 100kW PLATO #1, has these mounted on the platform but they can be susceptible to corrosion and marine growth due to the platform being submerged for long periods of time (up to 11 months in between servicing). The pull down system and hydraulics are only used for the installation and retrieval of PLAT-O so, therefore, they are redundant whilst the platform is operational subsea. In order to reduce the capex and opex, a solution is to remove the parts completely from the platform and deploy them only when necessary. This can be achieved by SME designing and building a Surface Supplied Installation System (SISS) to facilitate the installation/retrieval of SME’s commercial demonstrator platform, 250kW PLAT-O #2. By using a SSIS to install/retrieve PLAT-O the utilisation of the equipment will be increased as it will be used for multiple platforms. The SISS will not be affected by corrosion or marine growth because it will only be submerged during marine operations. By doing this, SME will reduce the capital cost per platform and the operational cost by reducing the maintenance costs which would be incurred servicing the pull down system and hydraulics. The capital cost of each platform will be reduced by £150,000; over a community-scale project (an array of 12 platforms) this equates to a reduction of £1.8m out of a total cost of £14.4m.