World’s First Offshore Vessel Charging System Completes Harbour Trials

March 15, 2023, by Adnan Memija

MJR Power and Automation, together with Blackfish Engineering and Tidal Transit, have completed the harbour trials of the company’s platform-mounted automated offshore power and charging system.

The harbor trials were carried out at the Port of Blyth in the UK using the Crew Transfer Vessel (CTV) Tia Elizabeth, owned and operated by Tidal Transit.

The set-up at the port replicated the installation of the offshore power and charging system on an offshore wind and/or substation validating the safe connection, mooring, and charging of the battery bank installed on the CTV.

All interconnection, mooring, automation, monitoring, and safety systems, including wireless communication and emergency disconnection, were tested and validated during the harbour trails.

With harbour trials completed, MJR will demobilise the equipment and prepare for installation on a substation in an offshore wind farm in the North Sea.

Designed to convert energy delivered directly from an offshore wind farm, the power and charging system could enable all heavy hybrid and electric CTVs and other offshore support vessels to connect in the field to a 100 per cent green energy source.

“By providing a solution to power vessels and charge batteries in the field – primarily during periods when they would otherwise be idle – MJR’s offshore power and charging system will prove to be a key enabler for the large-scale deployment of eCTVs and larger electric hybrid vessels across the offshore sector”, said Paul Cairns, Managing Director at MJR.

“Put simply, if 50% of the UK’s CTV fleet converted to electric operation, this would eliminate approximately 131,100 tonnes of CO2 each year.”

According to the UK’s Department for Transport, the world’s first offshore charging points for electric vehicles were planned to be installed on the Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farms last summer.

In addition to charging CTVs, with a maximum charging time of two hours, MJR is also developing a similar system delivering higher powers for larger vessels, including Service Operations Vessels (SOVs) and Platform Supply Vessels (PSVs).