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

潮汐能源部门目前正在寻求利用英国在潮汐涡轮机技术方面取得的进步的方法。这些设备已经进行了开放水域测试，并被证明在技术和商业上是可行的。现在的关键挑战是找到一种经济有效的方法来大规模部署这些设备，以帮助释放这种有可能满足英国当前20%电力需求的能源。在这些设备需要运行的地方，这在恶劣的海洋环境中尤其具有挑战性。Excalibur是一种新型海底基础设施系统，将有助于克服这些挑战。它包括一个标准化的基础系统，该系统是设备中立的，使不同的供应商能够“即插即用”他们的技术到系统中。使用Excalibur也简化了这些设备的安装和维护，从而降低了潮汐能的成本。

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.