HydroWing creates new barge to cut costs of tidal energy technology

Tidal technology company HydroWing has designed a new barge to help drive down the cost of installation and maintenance for its tidal stream array technology.

The new Quad Hull Barge is the latest innovation to the HydroWing system, which further increases productivity and drives down costs.

HydroWing's technology offers a modular solution, based on its unique patented design. The wing system streamlines operations and maintenance by allowing for the removal of sets of tidal energy turbines without the need to remove or work on the foundations.

Commercialisation of the tidal energy sector has so far been held back by high operations and maintenance costs.

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Richard Parkinson, MD of Inyanga Marine Energy Group, which is the parent company for HydroWing, said that the Quad Hull Barge is specifically designed to tackle the issue of the high costs associated with planned and unplanned offshore operations, which is caused by the weak availability of offshore vessels. With the new barge, the turbines can be maintained at low cost and with reduced downtime.

Said Parkinson: “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.

“Our new Quad Hull Barge represents a major leap forward for the sector. The design ticks all the important boxes for offshore operators. It is modular, so it can be transported by road and assembled at site. As it is modular, it can also easily be scaled up for larger turbines. The four pontoons are 25 tonnes each and can be transported by road, which reduces manufacturing costs. It is low drag and easier to tow and can therefore be handled by small, locally available tugs.

"All of these factors will help to lower the cost of each intervention. In addition, it is on permanent standby and can be deployed quickly, which will help operators to reduce production downtime."

Thanks to the Quad Hull Barge, the HydroWing tidal energy arrays can now be serviced by existing port infrastructure, rather than requiring major new investment. Parkinson believes that this is one of the keys to ensuring that the sector achieves profitable growth in the future.

"We believe our HydroWing technology will unlock the commercial potential of tidal energy worldwide.”

The company has filed a patent application to protect its unique Quad Hull Barge design.

HydroWing was the largest tidal stream project in Wales to be successful in the UK government’s latest Contracts for Difference round, having been awarded a 10MW project at the Morlais tidal energy site in Anglesey.