United Kingdom – Oasis Marine Power has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Verlume, to look into developing new intelligent in-field energy storage and charging infrastructure for crew transfer vessels, making offshore wind farm operations even more electrified.
The non-exclusive MoU will assess the feasibility of creating a microgrid interface within the wind farm by combining an intelligent power conditioning and management system with a powered mooring station. This novel configuration will enable in-field charging of hybrid and electric wind farm vessels, resulting in significant greenhouse gas emissions reductions over the wind farm’s lifetime.
The proposed intelligent infield charging system will maximize value for both the vessel and the offshore wind farm operator by utilizing energy available at the most optimal time and providing a safe mooring point.
Optimized charging
Oasis Marine Power, a leader in marine renewable energy solutions, will provide its Oasis Power Buoy infrastructure to facilitate power transfer to vessels. The Oasis Power Buoy is an offshore mooring and charging station that uses a zero-emission power source fed by wind turbines to maximize carbon dioxide reductions. The concept began testing in January 2022 in the Port of Cromarty Firth, Scotland, and will continue throughout the year in various locations.
Energy storage services will be provided by Verlume’s Halo subsea battery energy storage system to optimize the charging profile. An intelligent power conditioning and management system will be integrated as part of the Halo device, which will provide intelligent management of the available energy, allowing charging from the wind farm during times of low energy demand, and thus maximising revenue from power generation.
