Manor Renewable Energy Manor Venture will be joined by a sister vessel with the help of a SCORE grant – from left, David Burrows, Manor Renewable Energy Business Development Manager; Eric Briar, Managing Director; and James Walker, of naval architects Walker Marine Design (photo: Manor Renewable Energy)

Design of Manor Renewable Energy’s latest crew transfer vessel for the fast-growing offshore wind industry will be shaped with the help of a GBP 50,000 grant to support innovation and cost-saving.

Manor Renewable Energy was awarded the highest grant from the GBP 6 million SCORE fund towards research for a GBP 4 million sister vessel to its 1-year-old Manor Venture, currently working for Siemens on the Galloper Offshore Wind Farm.

The 26-metre vessel was designed by naval architect James Walker, Walker Marine Design, to spend prolonged time offshore with large “ship style” cabins, office space for clients and mess rooms for technicians and engineers.

Its maiden contract supporting Siemens’ work on the Galloper wind farm off the UK’s east coast, refuelling and maintenance of all of the 56 116 KVA generators on the 56 turbines.

Walker will design a new vessel over the next year to service the new generation of offshore wind farms alongside the growth of Manor Renewable Energy’s business in the East of England.

David Burrows, Business Development Manager, says the SCORE grant provided the “right support for us at the right time.”

It will help fund research with wind farm operators and developers to find out what features, design and capability a second vessel would need to save more time on projects, therefore saving costs. Minimising transfer times in and out to sea is paramount as is reducing the number of times personnel have to climb the towers, he says: “The Manor Venture has been brilliant and innovative in itself, but we are now looking at how we can increase its lifting capacity with different types of cranes and winches but without having to use a DP (dynamic positioning) vessel, which is very costly if not necessary. Things we are looking to introduce include more comfortable motions on board with comfortable cabin space so people can stay for much longer periods offshore, catering personnel permanently on board, day and night shifts incorporating new technologies that aren’t seen in conventional crew vessels.”

“Our SCORE grant will contribute to developing what operators want, the facilities, capability and features of the future. There are huge opportunities for people who can get out there and grab it. The grant process was simple and straightforward. Our pitch is about staying out at sea longer but we are also looking to find out what else we do when we’re out there, such as remedial work, operations and maintenance, sea fastening design and fabrication, bolting and tensioning works,” Burrows adds.

Rob Bush, SCORE programme manager, says researching operator’s future needs, as offshore wind farms moved into and beyond operational stages, was an ideal use for a SCORE grant: “This industry is all about saving costs. Offshore wind farms need to be managed in the cost-efficient way long-term, as well as at construction stage. To use a SCORE grant to talk to operators about features needed and come up with a new design of vessel to effect that is what SCORE is all about – shaping the future of offshore wind off the east coast.”

Tags: Manor Renewable Energy, SCORE, Walker Marine Design