An industrial design company in Connemara has announced its partnership with the University of Galway for a new project that aims for a greener shipping industry by using lightweight material to reduce fuel consumption and CO2 emissions.

Over the next two years of the FASTSHIP project, ÉireComposites will lead development and manufacturing of composite components that can reduce drag on ships, thereby cutting fuel usage.

The University of Galway, meanwhile, will take charge of analysis and testing of the prototypes, using its own BladeComp software to optimise the designs.

The two parties also aim to optimise the manufacturing process for ensuring large volume production at reduced costs.

The Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland (SEAI) and the Marine Institute are providing almost €600,000 of funding to the project, under the SEAI National Energy Research, Development and Demonstration (RD&D) Funding Programme 2022.

Kerrie Sheehan, head of R&D at SEAI said: “Maritime transport plays an essential role in Ireland as an island nation and SEAI recognise the need to invest in research that will contribute to achieving emissions reductions in this sector and our 2030 overall targets.”

Veronica Cunningham, research funding office manager at the Marine Institute added: “The Irish maritime sector, in line with the sector across Europe, is seeking ways to decarbonise operations, reduce greenhouse gases emissions and increase the use of low-carbon and renewable fuels to replace fossil fuels for shipping.

“The FASTSHIP project will develop a solution that can be retrofitted to existing vessels or designed into new ships, with a significant reduction in fuel consumption and consequently decreasing vessel carbon emissions and shipping costs.”

A Connemara company has secured €3 million from the European Commission to research and design a marine turbine that uses recycled materials for the first time.

As The Times Ireland edition reports, designers at ÉireComposites in Indreabhán, Co Galway, believe their marine hydrokinetic power system can produce clean energy reliably at a reduced cost.

It will work with partners including marine renewable energy specialists Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC), NUI Galway, Mitsubishi Chemical Advanced Materials in Germany and Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, the Italian state research company. 

A graphic of the RivGen device deployed

Total value of the project is €3.9m, of which some €3m has been awarded to the Irish design team.

RivGen Power System in 2019 at Igiugig, Alaska

Tomás Flanagan, chief executive officer at ÉireComposites, said the aim is to use recycled carbon fibre for a “mini” version of a larger turbine that ORPC will build.

The RivGen device operating in the Alaskan Kvichak River in April 2020

He says that marine turbine systems can harvest a potential 615 terawatt-hours per year from tidal streams, ocean currents and river currents – as in approximately 21 times Ireland’s annual electricity use.

Named “Crimson”, as in “Commercialisation of a Recyclable and Innovative Manufacturing Solution for an Optimised Novel”, the turbine project is being supported by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Fast Track to Innovation programme.

An aerial view of the RivGen device operating in the Kvichak River, in Alaska in August 2019

ÉireComposites has already worked with ORPC, which has headquarters in Portland, Maine, USA and a base in Ireland, on previous turbine design projects.

These include ORPC’s first commercial river generation power system, installed in Igiugig, Alaska, to provide a remote community with local energy from the Kvichak river.

The Connemara company is one of 16 partners in seven countries in the EU-funded Marewind project to design the next generation of offshore wind turbines.

It also recently secured a contract to design and manufacture equipment for the European Space Agency’s Altius satellite, which is due to be launched from French Guiana in 2023 

Read The Times Ireland here