Tidal DP Barge

The project will develop and test a low cost Dynamic-Positioning barge installation vessel suitable for installing tidal turbine arrays at energetic and exposed tidal sites. The vessel will be based on a flat top barge with significant deck space and adequate craneage capacity to deploy a wide range of tidal devices of 1MW size and above with associated drilling equipment, umbilicals etc. The vessel will have a novel propulsion system and bespoke DP controller onboard designed to maximise the tidal and weather operating window of the vessel. The project aims to deliver a DP tidal array installation vessel that can be chartered at a small fraction of current offshore DP vessel rates. The partners are IT Power (project lead), KML (marine contractor & shipowner), Reygar Ltd (DP controller developer) and A&P (Falmouth based shipbuilders).