Quoceant's adaptable, marine quick connection system wins stage 2, development funding from Wave Energy Scotland.
Quoceant have been awarded funding from Wave Energy Scotland (WES) to progress the design of the ‘Q-Connect’ marine connection system. The stage 2 funding of nearly £350k will see further design and analysis of the system supported by output from detailed numerical simulation of key operations.
The Q-Connect is a modular and adaptable Quick Connection System (QCS) being developed to provide mechanical and electrical connection and disconnection of a marine energy device to its mooring and electrical infrastructure. The ‘hands free’ remote connection and disconnection processes can be completed in a single operation without need for person access to the device, specialised vessels, or taut lines on deck. Applicable to a wide variety of technologies including wave and tidal machines the Q-Connect is adaptable to allow for use with various mooring and machine configurations.
The stage 2 project is led by Quoceant and brings together an expert team of engineers, marine operational specialists and commercial expertise from leading marine companies. Inyanga Maritime, The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Mocean, AWS Ocean Energy and SMD are subcontractors within stage 2.
Commenting on the awards, Tim Hurst, managing director of WES said “This programme will develop technology that will reduce the cost of wave and tidal energy and ultimately help marine energy play a part in Scotland’s net-zero future. “Connecting and disconnecting devices quickly and remotely will increase safety in offshore operations, and the wider potential for these technologies is significant across offshore and subsea applications.”
Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said:
“This announcement represents an important step forward for Scotland’s world-leading wave energy sector. We believe that wave energy offers tremendous economic potential and can play an important role in Scotland’s response to the global climate emergency.”
Beth Dickens, Director at Quoceant and lead for the project, said:
“We are delighted with the award of stage 2 funding from Wave Energy Scotland. We believe the development of an adaptable quick connection system can play a significant enabling role for the emerging wave and tidal markets and longer term could offer benefits to floating wind and other wider marine applications.”
James Mack, Project Manager, Inyanaga Maritime said:
“Inyanga Maritime are happy to be supporting Quoceant with the development of the Q-Connect and see this as a much-needed improvement for the industry. This cutting-edge wet mate and mooring technology mitigates risk from the marine operations, reducing failures and in turn helps wave energy developers overcome the economic challenges presented by O&M.”
Rob Flynn, Commercial Manager at EMEC said:
“WES' Quick Connector System programme has enabled vital focus on a key technological challenge with significant potential for improved performance and cost reduction. We're really pleased to see Quoceant Q-Connect technology progressed to the next stage in which EMEC will assess compliance with electrical and mooring standards.”
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