James Fisher Marine Services (JFMS) has joined Nova Innovation-led EnFAIT project which aims to optimize tidal arrays to accelerate the commercialization of tidal energy sector.
JFMS, part of James Fisher and Sons, will be providing design input to intelligent subsea tooling, subsea array architecture and foundation structures for tidal turbines, and optimise key offshore operations, the company informed.
The EnFAIT project, short for Enabling Future Arrays in Tidal, has recently secured almost €15 million from the EU Horizon 2020 Program.
It brings together a consortium of nine leading industrial, academic and research organizations from across Europe.
The project will extend Nova Innovation’s Bluemull Sound tidal array, installed off Shetland Islands in Scotland, to six turbines and will seek to demonstrate that high array reliability can be achieved using best practice maintenance regimes, while also adjusting the layout of the turbines to study array interactions and its optimization.
James Croftson , Senior Project Engineer at JFMS, said: “We are certain that this project will pave the way for tidal energy being brought in to the mainstream, and for it to be perceived as a viable renewable source.”
EnFAIT project began in July 2017, and will continue until 2022. In addition to Nova Innovation, and JFMS, some of the other partners in the project include ELSA, ORE Catapult, and Wood Group.