Offshore Charging for Hybrid and Electric Vessels led by Oasis Marine

Challenge and background:

The UK and Europe are global leaders in offshore wind farms with a current fleet of over 300 Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs), and over 500 demand of CTV in Europe by 2035.

The Oasis Power Buoy is an offshore charging solution for windfarm maintenance vessels. This development has been driven by the need to decarbonise the UKs maritime industry. Currently windfarm maintenance vessels are powered by fossil fuels and make up the largest component of an operational windfarm’s carbon footprint. The key challenge to zero-emission propulsion is the limiting capacity of current battery technology. By providing an in-field charging solution these maintenance vessels can transition to hybrid-electric and fully electric propulsion, charging while they wait in-field as technicians carry out maintenance on turbines.

The aim of this project therefore was to develop a mooring and charging buoy for vessels serving offshore windfarms. It charges electric and hybrid vessels with renewable, low-cost energy generated by the wind farm.

What was done:

The project completes the initial stage of the Oasis Power Buoy development, from design, build, IP and initial testing of the first-generation prototype.

Throughout the project particular care was given to developing a reliable, safe, cost effective and easy to use solution. The Oasis Power Buoy prototype was designed specifically for windfarm Crew Transfer Vessels (CTVs) as these vessels were forecast to be early adopters of electric propulsion. Oasis Marine Ltd (formerly Jebb Smith Ltd) has now also developed a solution for charging Service Operation Vessels (SOVs) and transfer of hydrogen offshore based on developments made in this MarRI-UK project.

The project was successfully delivered through a recent testing in Peterhead Port Authority, by transferring power through the full-scale prototype buoy to a CTV.

Based on the work done in this project, Oasis successfully awarded a CMDC3 funded demonstration project,  partnering with Turbo Power Systems, Verlume and the ORE Catapult to deliver the world leading Offshore Charging Station. 

Any enquiry, please contact info@jebbsmith.com.