The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has issued a statement of maturity, the latest stage in new technology qualification, for the floating wind platform design developed by the US-based floating wind technology company Aikido Technologies.
ABS says that as part of the process, it witnessed an upending demonstration of Aikido One, a 1:4 scale floating wind platform, which exhibited the ability to quickly deploy from its collapsed transportation configuration into an upright, floating configuration.
ABS granted approval in principle (AiP) for the design in 2022 and has worked closely with Aikido throughout the development of the platform, according to the US classification society.
“Having a third-party validation of our design and test procedures from ABS has been crucial to derisking our technology for our customers, insurers and other partners. We hope to continue to work with ABS on future full-scale projects”, said Sam Kanner , CEO of Aikido Technologies.
The Aikido platform design allows for quick assembly in smaller port areas and transport using existing barges, which could enable faster and cheaper development of floating offshore wind projects, according to the California-based floating wind technology developer.
Aikido Technologies awarded a contract for the fabrication of the 1:4 scale, 100 kW floating wind platform to Chet Morrison Contractors (Morrison) in early 2024.
In November last year, Aikido announced that Chet Morrison Contractors completed the fabrication of the Aikido One platform and performed the final structural assembly of the platform in less than 40 working hours.
The floating wind tech company also revealed in November 2024 that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Port Pascagoula, Mississippi, to provide space to test the Aikido One platform off Singing River Island Pier.