Marine Performance Systems Wins Offshore Wind Innovation Challenge 2019

Marine Performance Systems is the winner of the Offshore Wind Innovation Challenge 2019 with its solution for noise reduction during piling, Offshore Wind Innovators said.

The three other finalists were Arc Marine, Witteveen & Bos, and Tribosonics. They came up with solutions to optimize a cage construction for flat oysters and to measure torque of bolts.

Marine Performance Systems is an engineering company that develops products for the maritime industry. They had applied for the Van Oord challenge. Van Oord hopes to reduce noise during pile driving by means of a controlled pressure control that can automatically adjust the diameter of air bubbles.

Marine Performance Systems has already developed oscillators for the shipping industry to reduce the friction on ships by applying a bubble layer between the bottom of the ship and the (sea) water. They would now like to make this technology applicable for the installation of wind turbines. During their presentation, they made it plausible that by adjusting the diameter of the bubbles in a controlled manner, they can reduce the noise in all sound frequencies.

Offshore Wind Innovators organizes the Offshore Wind Innovation Challenge to connect start-ups and scale-ups with a first customer. To this end, large companies from the offshore wind industry formulate a problem for which they urgently seek a solution.

Van Oord, Deutsche Wind Technik, and the Rijke Noordzee had formulated three very different challenges. Rijke Noordzee issued a challenge for an optimal design for flat oyster cages. ARC Marine and Witteveen & Bos have been selected as the two finalists.

Deutsche Wind Technik challenged the start-ups to come up with a way to measure the tension of already mounted bolts without a ‘zero measurement’ that is normally required at the time of confirmation. The finalist in this challenge was Tribosonics.

The three finalists will also proceed with their cooperation with their potential launching customer by means of a research project, developing a prototype or (pre)commercial appointments.

“The great thing is that a follow-up collaboration has been announced for all four finalists,” said Weissmann.

“So we actually have four winners: real innovators who tackle specific problems. Because there can only be one winner, the jury designated MPS in a split decision. This is because their solution both promotes ecological protection, saves CO₂ (less bubble pressure) and makes larger wind turbines still possible. ”