The US Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) has announced that local Hawaii engineering firm, Makai Ocean Engineering (Makai), was awarded a research and development project for anchoring and mooring methods.This project focuses on advancing the technology that Makai calls the Remote Anchoring and Micropiling (RAMP) system, for use in marine renewables, with a focus on floating offshore wind. Makai developed initial prototypes of this technology under an ongoing project with the University of Hawaii’s Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI). Under the project award, the Makai team led by Richard Argall, Ocean Energy Division Head, will develop mooring and anchoring methods for grid-scale floating offshore wind turbines and marine hydrokinetic systems with the aim to reduce the costs of offshore renewable energy. The technology developed is of particular relevance to Hawaii, as the RAMP is best suited for hard seabed ground conditions, common in the waters surrounding the State.
The ARPA-E award received by Makai is part of the $175 million awarded to 68 projects “aimed at developing disruptive technologies to strengthen the nation’s advanced energy enterprise” for the OPEN2021 program.
