Beam drives offshore wind growth with new support vessels
Beam, a provider of AI and autonomy enabled offshore wind services, has added two 18 m autonomous surface vessels (ASVs), called Xplorers, and a Quantum EV workclass remotely operated vessel (ROV) to its specialist fleet at a total cost of over £15 million.
This is the latest commitment by the tech scale up, formerly Rovco and Vaarst (now merged), to drive progress in the clean energy transition, helping the offshore wind sector become a more reliable, efficient and cost-effective alternative to the oil and gas industry.
The Quantum EV and Xplorer vessels strengthen Beam’s ability to deliver efficiencies through new technologies and support the wind industry across all lifecycle stages. The new additions will play a central role in the company’s survey, O&M, and decommissioning services.
The two Xplorer survey vessels are well equipped and capable of performing widespread tasks. Both have vast open aft decks that can carry high payloads and are fitted with intelligent stabilisers that minimise unwanted vessel movement. Additionally, Beam’s new workboats are fully autonomous, can deploy numerous AI models while collecting data and can beam data back to shore for more efficient processing.
Beam’s new Quantum EV, a heavy duty and high-performance electric work class ROV, will provide improved results at lower costs. The EV is lighter and more agile compared to conventional workclass ROVs, making it particularly useful for high current, shallow water operations. The Quantum EV will enable Beam to conduct projects in wider operating windows and more difficult conditions. By consuming less energy and dramatically reducing contamination risk, Beam’s new EV will also ensure projects remain cost effective and environmentally friendly.
The fleet expansion allows Beam to support more international projects from site characterisation/survey through to decommissioning, accelerate project timelines and enable reduction in customer costs which will enable greater windfarm profitability. To further this, the company plans to recruit over 150 new employees for a variety of high-technology roles at its Bristol, Aberdeen and Edinburgh offices over the next year. Globally, the company will also hire 50 positions in other markets, including 25 in the US and 10 in Asia.
Beam’s Co-Founder & Executive Vice President for Service Innovation, Joe Tidball, stated: “As Beam continues to innovate and expand our capabilities in the offshore wind industry, the acquisition of our first Quantum EV ROV marks a significant milestone in our journey. This next-generation electric work class ROV offers unparalleled performance with our fully integrated autonomy stack. With its advanced capabilities, the Quantum EV enhances our ability to deliver high-quality subsea projects through all stages of windfarm development, UXO clearance and decommissioning. This investment underscores our commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to provide superior service to our clients and drive forward the growth of renewable energy worldwide.”
Beam’s Marc Coull, Programme Director – Service Delivery, continued: “At Beam, we’re committed to pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in offshore wind operations; the addition of Xplorer autonomous surface vessels to our fleet marks a significant step forward in this mission. An Xplorer ASV allows us to test, refine and deploy the latest in autonomous vessel capabilities while still retaining oversight of skilled marine crew. Once certification bodies catch up with technology, we will be there leading the future of uncrewed survey operations and project delivery. Xplorer is just the first step in our ASV journey and we’re very excited to be at the forefront of this space.”
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