Excalibur - A novel subsea infrastructure solution for the deployment of tidal arrays

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The tidal energy sector is currently seeking ways to exploit the advancements made in tidal turbine technology in the UK. These devices have already undergone open water testing and were shown to be technically and commercially viable. The key challenge now is to find a cost-effective way to deploy these devices at a large scale to help unlock this energy source which has the potential to meet 20% of current electricity demands in the UK. This is particularly challenging in the harsh metocean conditions expected at the locations where these devices are required to operate. Excalibur is a novel subsea infrastructure system which will help overcome these challenges. It includes a standardised foundation system that is device neutral enabling different suppliers to "plug and play" their technologies into the system. The installation and maintenance of these devices is also simplified by using Excalibur which in turn reduces the cost of tidal energy.