Scottish marine energy specialist QED Naval has invited potential tenderers to participate in an opportunity to be a strategic partner in developing its next generation Subhub industrial demonstrator platform for tidal energy generation.
The partnership is key to unlocking the potential of a rapidly growing global $76 billion tidal energy market and making a significant contribution to net zero carbon targets, according to QED Naval .
The company has already built and operated its Subhub tidal platform at sea since 2018, and has proven its installation, retrieval capabilities and O&M strategy.
Now, QED Naval has issued the initial invitation to participate (ITP) with an outline scope of work in order to identify a selected list of prospective tenderers for the development of the company’s industrial demonstrator Subhub tidal energy platform .
To allow for flexibility in approach, QED Naval said it would consider tender responses in four different lots , including the main hull cofferdam fabrication , buoyancy tanks , tower sections , and subsea power control unit (SPCU) .
The deadline for submitting the completed tender documentation has been set for June 9, 2023.
“Using the QED Naval and Tocardo tender above, we hope to develop long-term strategic partnerships with the supply chain offering gain-share/equity agreements based on volumes and project delivery.
“The partnership is expected to deliver a cost-reduction pathway benefiting from learning, efficiency gains and economies of scale.
“Furthermore, a development path for developing our utility-scale tidal technology (multi-MW platforms and 1MW turbine) to further reduce costs of energy is required. This final development step will enable the partnership to compete on cost with other forms of marine renewables, namely, offshore wind,” QED Naval said in a statement.
The company’s project pipeline is prioritizing the Morlais deployment in North Wales as part of the contracts for difference (CfD) auction round five (AR5), where QED Naval submitted an initial application in March 2023 .
As part of this project, QED Naval plans to build an initial demonstration unit by July 2024 followed by another 11 units to be constructed by Dec 2025.
QED Naval also sees potential markets on the South Coast of England as well as in Scotland for another two early-stage tidal energy arrays using Subhub industrial scale units.