Scottish floating wind technology developer Encomara has received Product Design Assessment (PDA) approval from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) for its Squid floating offshore wind installation system, marking a key certification milestone as the company advances the technology toward commercial deployment.
The PDA follows Approval in Principle (AiP) granted by ABS in November 2025 and represents the next stage in the qualification process for the system, which is designed to simplify the installation of floating offshore wind turbines.
Encomara's patented Squid technology integrates pre-installed mooring lines and electrical connections into a single subsea unit. The system enables subsea infrastructure to be installed in advance, allowing floating wind turbines to be connected through a simplified ‘plug-and-play’ process.
According to modelling studies supported by Scottish Enterprise and offshore wind developers, the technology could reduce installation times by up to 50% compared with conventional methods, while increasing available weather windows for installation campaigns and supporting tow-to-port maintenance strategies. Encomara estimates the approach could save developers up to $1.34 billion (£1 billion) per gigawatt of floating wind capacity.
ABS conducted a detailed technical review of the system against class and industry requirements for floating offshore wind applications before issuing the PDA.
The certification comes ahead of a series of onshore demonstrations scheduled for July at the Aurora Energy Services (AES) facility in Huntly, Scotland, followed by inshore testing and customer demonstrations at Ardersier in August.
"The Squid system allows pre-installation of moorings and cables followed by rapid hook up of the FOWT, thus reducing risk and potentially doubling the number of turbines that can be installed in a typical season, which tackles a key constraint in GW scale floating wind farm completion.
"Moving into live testing is the next significant step. We developed this technology in Scotland, and we are building and qualifying it in Scotland. The ambition is for it to be operating in floating wind projects across the world," said Ian Donald, Encomara Managing Director.
Encomara added patents for the Squid system have been secured across Europe, Asia and Australia, while AES's Huntly facility has been identified as a potential manufacturing hub as the technology moves toward large-scale deployment.