Encomara’s Squid™ connection system has completed inshore trials at Ardersier Port and achieved Technology Readiness Level 7/8, confirming it is ready for commercial manufacture and deployment.
The Aberdeen-based floating-wind and subsea engineering specialist, an Aurora Energy Services company, received the TRL 7/8 qualification from the American Bureau of Shipping following a series of full-scale trials at Ardersier Energy Transition Facility, near Inverness. The trials are the first floating offshore project of their type to be launched at the port.
Squid is a universal mooring and power-cable interface developed specifically for floating offshore wind turbines. Suspended mid-water, it holds power cables, connectors, mooring lines and anchor interfaces in a configuration close to the connected state. Developers can pre-install marine hardware, then hook the turbine up quickly on arrival. The same connection can be released so a turbine can be disconnected and towed to port.
During the trials the system was deployed subsea, raised and clamped into a full-scale floating I-tube structure that reproduced the hull interface. ABS assessments covered subsea ROV operations across a range of scenarios, from buoy hook-up and latching through to cable pull-in.
The programme follows Approval in Principle from ABS in November 2025 and Product Design Assessment in June 2026. It also follows modelling, supported by Scottish Enterprise and key developers, which estimates Squid could reduce levelised cost of energy by up to 20% over the life of a development, and substantially shorten installation time compared with conventional methods.
Invited developers and industry stakeholders saw the system in operation at Ardersier this week.
“Securing TRL 7/8 status marks the final step in the qualification of our technology ready for deployment,” said Ian Donald, Managing Director of Encomara. “It demonstrates that the Squid system has been successfully proven at full scale and is now ready to move into commercial manufacture. Our plug-and-play design is intended to remove some of the complexity and cost associated with floating-wind operations, helping to address one of the key barriers to wider industry investment.”
Rob Langford, ABS Vice President, Global Offshore Markets, said: “The path from concept to commercial deployment in offshore energy has always run through rigorous testing and independent validation. ABS is proud to have supported Encomara throughout that journey, and we look forward to supporting this technology through project execution phases.”
The trials are the culmination of investment since Encomara was acquired by Aurora Energy Services in June 2025. Manufacture of the connection systems is expected to support project-delivery and manufacturing roles at Aurora’s facilities in Huntly and Inverness as commercial orders come forward.