IN Brief:
- Encomara’s SQUID system has received product design assessment from ABS.
- The subsea system integrates pre-installed mooring lines and electrical connections for floating offshore wind.
- Onshore demonstrations are planned at Huntly in July, followed by inshore testing at Ardersier in August.
Encomara has secured product design assessment from the American Bureau of Shipping for its SQUID floating offshore wind installation system.
The SQUID system, manufactured by Aurora Energy Services, integrates pre-installed mooring lines and electrical connections into a single subsea unit. It is designed to simplify floating offshore wind installation by allowing subsea infrastructure to be installed before the floating turbine is towed into position and connected.
The assessment follows approval in principle granted by ABS last November and moves the technology further along its qualification pathway. Onshore demonstrations are planned for July at Aurora Energy Services’ Huntly facility, followed by inshore wet testing and customer demonstrations at Ardersier in August.
Floating offshore wind has a more complicated installation sequence than fixed-bottom wind. Turbines are assembled on floating foundations, towed to site, connected to mooring systems, and linked into subsea electrical infrastructure that must remain reliable under movement from wind, wave, and current loading. Every offshore connection operation is exposed to vessel availability, weather windows, safety risk, and cost.
SQUID is intended to reduce that offshore burden by preparing mooring and electrical connection points before the turbine arrives. Modelling supported by Scottish Enterprise and developers indicates that the system could halve installation time compared with conventional methods and reduce costs by up to £1bn per gigawatt. Those figures will need to be tested through full-scale deployment, but they reflect the level of cost reduction floating wind developers are seeking.
Electrical connection is one of the harder parts of floating wind delivery. Dynamic cables must accommodate platform movement while maintaining power export, and connection systems must be robust enough for long-term offshore operation. Faster hook-up methods can reduce time at sea, but they must also provide the mechanical and electrical reliability required by developers, insurers, lenders, and operators.
The industry is already focusing on these subsea interfaces. Developments such as Apollo’s PALM quick connection system have targeted faster dynamic cable operations, while SQUID brings mooring and electrical connection into a single integrated subsea unit. Both approaches reflect the same commercial requirement: floating wind needs installation methods that can be repeated at scale without excessive vessel time.
Certification plays a central role in that transition. Product design assessment does not make a technology commercially proven, but it gives project developers and supply-chain partners a stronger basis for evaluation. Class involvement is particularly important in floating wind because new installation concepts must satisfy marine, electrical, structural, and operational assurance requirements before they can be adopted on major projects.
The Scottish manufacturing and testing route adds industrial weight to the development. Encomara was founded in Aberdeen and later acquired by Aurora Energy Services, connecting the system to North Sea offshore engineering capability. Huntly has been identified as a potential high-volume manufacturing site if the technology progresses into commercial deployment.
The next demonstrations at Huntly and Ardersier will test installation handling, connection procedures, repeatability, and operational readiness. Floating wind cost reduction depends on many such components moving from concept to qualified process. Turbine output and platform design remain important, but installation efficiency, subsea connection, port logistics, and maintainability will determine whether gigawatt-scale floating projects can be delivered at acceptable cost.
SQUID’s progress moves the discussion toward the practical mechanics of floating wind construction. The market has enough resource potential. What it needs now is qualified, repeatable infrastructure that reduces offshore time while maintaining electrical and mechanical reliability.
