MRCF and MESAT Projects in Moorings for Marine Renewables

MRCF (Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund)

TTI and TTI Testing have recently completed a major, 2 years, £1.3m​ UK and Scottish ​Government funded Carbon Trust grant conducting research into synthetic mooring and anchoring technology for wave, tidal and floating wind.

A specially designed nylon rope mooring line has been tested for 2 years and 20 million cycles in tension-tension fatigue and gave 108% residual strength.  This research demonstrates that nylon ropes can now be designed for permanent moorings. 

This special nylon rope design has also been qualified in accordance with Lloyd's Register Technology qualification pathway, so the next stage is commercial exploitation.

A synthetic bag anchoring system was also developed under the same program by TTI and its partners.  The aim of this development was to provide the industry with a novel and cost effective anchoring system.

Under a separate program founded through MESAT [Marine Energy Supporting Array Technologies] TTI and its partners have also developed a novel synthetic fairlead system comprising a fibre rope top end system and a polymer fairlead.  The benefits of the systems include reduced weight, low maintenance and increased fatigue life, greatly reduced probability of failure risks associated with some conventional chain/wire systems. 

TTI is now seeking partners to further field trial and develop these systems.  Should you wish to discuss these projects or indeed if you are interested in learning more on how TTI and TTI Testing can assist you in all aspects of moorings for your marine renewables project please do not hesitate to contact us.