Bluefin

Bluefin Robotics, a leading provider of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and related subsea technologies, announced that as of this month the company’s inhouse battery group has produced over 1 million watt-hours of subsea batteries. The announcement comes on the heels of the company receiving several orders for AUVs, vehicle power upgrades, and customised power systems for the commercial oil and gas market.

"Storing and delivering power is one of the most challenging aspects of subsea platforms," said David Kelly, President and CEO of Bluefin Robotics. "We are thrilled to apply the advances we’ve made with our AUV power solution elsewhere to solve an industry-wide problem."

Bluefin has been building field-swappable subsea batteries for over ten years to address critical power needs for their modular AUVs. The company offers a commercial-off-the-shelf 1.5kWh pack and custom power solutions for a variety of underwater applications including profilers, subsea equipment, ROVs, and other submersible platforms.

"We chose the Bluefin battery because it is fully pressure-tolerant, easy to replace, and provides very high energy density," said Andrew Barnard, vice president of research and development at WET Labs. WET Labs has been using the 1.5kWh pack in their autonomous moored profilers for the last five years.

Bluefin’s standard 1.5kWh pack is waterproof, pressure-tolerant, and includes its own smart electronics for self-balancing, monitoring and safety. Drop-and-play connectors allow for users to easily swap packs in minutes at sea without ever opening a pressure vessel. In addition, batteries can be shipped by air in their UN-certified case.

Since Bluefin’s core battery technology is scalable, the company has delivered batteries in a variety of capacities including 1.8kWh, 3.5kWh, and 8.88kWh packs along with power solutions that scale as large as 148kWh. Bluefin is currently developing new configurations targeted at specific applications.