MARLIN STAR Community Access to Stored and Transferrable Energy from Floating Renewables

The MARLIN STAR project is the next phase in the development and commercialisation of an innovation that will enable coastal community access to stored and transferable energy from floating renewables. It supports several of the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development and particularly #7 'Affordable and Clean Energy'. It will revolutionise traditional construction techniques for building large floating platforms. The MARLIN underwater construction system employs patent protected buoyancy and orientation control. It enables structures consisting of uniform sized hexagonal interlocking modules to be constructed at the point of use. Float Modules fit into standard ISO shipping containers for easy transport to any location. Mass manufacture techniques and assembly without the need for large port infrastructure or large floating cranes will reduce costs. Realistic energy access will bring significant improvements to quality of life in the most deprived areas. The MARLIN STAR project assesses the market and social conditions for implementation of floating offshore wind energy generation, storage and transfer in Bangladesh and India. A socio-technical approach will be used to inform the design, to optimise the longevity of future installations, and to enable local operation and maintenance by the communities independently. Numerical analysis and laboratory tests will be conducted at internationally recognised research facilities.ODA FUNDING REDUCTION AMENDED TO : A PROTOTYPE MODULAR FLOATING FOUNDATION WITH A WIND TURBINE WILL BE TESTED IN A REDUCED WATER DEPTH 'TOW-OUT' CONDITION IN A DRYDOCK