Sustainable Marine Technologies’ (SMT) 85-metre-long Plat-O platform has been devised to be towed to site outfitted with five 1MW horizontal-axis machines for hook-up to a pre-installed mooring system.

Once in harness, the “device-agnostic” system could be remotely adjusted with internal winches to position the turbines in the fast-flowing “sweet spot” of a tidal stream.

As well as honing energy capture, the UK renewables consultancy’s one tonne, steel-and-composite concept promises to open the door to greater water depths than have previously been within the reach of conventional seabed-mounted machines.

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