Makai News

Check back here for the latest News from Makai Ocean Engineering.

Makai Ocean Engineering Partners with Shell to Revolutionize Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion

November, 2023

Shell Technology’s Marine Renewable Program (Shell MRE) has joined forces with Makai Ocean Engineering (Makai) in a collaborative effort to enhance Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). Under the partnership, Shell MRE has enlisted Makai’s expertise to de-risk and advance the technology behind a few critical components of their OTEC design. Makai has been at the forefront of OTEC research since its involvement in the development of the first net-power producing OTEC plant back in 1979. 

Cable Routing and Power Interconnection – Tools to Solve the Bottleneck

September, 2023

Makai Ocean Engineering (Makai) has developed a new prototype GIS-based software for offshore and onshore renewable energy power interconnection and planning; with sights sets on providing the tools needed to better solve this interconnection planning bottleneck. The Makai team, in collaboration with Telos Energy, is developing the software MakaiPlan Digital Twins for Grids (MakaiDTG), with the goal to provide a much neeeded integrated approach.

Makai Awarded One of Hawaii’s Best Workplaces 2 Years Running!

May, 2023

We’re incredibly honored to announce that Makai Ocean Engineering has been recognized as one of Hawaii’s Best Places to Work for both 2022 and 2023 by Pacific Business News (PBN). This distinction reaffirms our commitment to fostering a dynamic, engaging, and supportive workplace. Our team is our strength, and we’re proud that our efforts have been acknowledged in this way. Here’s to continuing to create a work environment that inspires innovation and excellence!

 

Makai Plays Role in Sustaining California's Water Supply

May, 2023

With California’s droughts causing water levels to dip, there was an urgent need for a new intake pipeline that could adapt to these changes. Rising to the challenge, our team designed an HDPE pipeline,  connecting the new pump station with the existing intake tower. As of December 2022, we’re proud to report that the pipeline is fully operational.

Makai Continues to Elevate Subsea Cable Planning with Automatic Route Generation

May, 2023

Our Automatic Route Generator (ARG) tool, a standout in subsea cable planning, continues to mature, backed by follow-on funding from an SBIR project. The next leap forward? Extending automatic optimization to encompass branch and trunk networks.

 

Advancing Solar Power Technologies with U.S. DOE Funding

May, 2023

Makai has been selected for the Solar Manufacturing Incubator Funding Program by the U.S. Department of Energy. This significant funding will catalyze our mission to create a cost-efficient primary heat exchanger for Generation 3 Concentrating Solar-Thermal Power (Gen3 CSP) systems.

Makai Part of $25M Artificial Reef Project Led by University of Hawaii

August, 2022

The team will develop and deploy reef structures that mimic the formation of natural fringing reef. The system will be installed on the coast of Oahu, led by Makai with support from other local Hawaii marine contractors. The project will run for 5 years with a phased installation. 

E-marine PJSC Commissions MakaiLay Across Their Installation and Repair Fleet

July, 2022

With E-marine PJSC‘s Commission of MakaiLay across their installation and repair fleet, MakaiLay is now being used by over 90% of the global fiber-optic cable laying fleet!

Makai Selected as one of Hawaii’s Best Workplaces

May, 2022

Pacific Business News has selected Makai as one of Hawaii’s Best Places to Work for 2022. 

Large Diameter Structured Pipeline Installation Support

March, 2022

In 2021 Makai took on the challenge of designing a safe deployment method for the very large diameter structured pipelines (2.9 m intake and 2.8 m outfall) of the Al-Jubail SWRO Desalination Plant in Saudi Arabia. These pipelines supply and discharge seawater to and from the world’s largest desalination plant and are the largest pipelines that Makai has helped install.

Makai’s Subsea Micropiling Technology Selected for ARPA-E Research and Development Project

February, 2022

The Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy (ARPA-E) announced that Makai was awarded a research and development project for advanced anchoring and mooring methods. This project focusses on advancing the technology that Makai calls the Remote Anchoring and Micropiling (RAMP) system, for use in marine renewables, with a focus on floating offshore wind.

 

The Century-Old Renewable You’ve Never Heard Of

January, 2022

American Geophysical Union, put together an article in EOS Science News covering the history and current state of Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC). Makai has been a pioneer of OTEC and related technologies for decades, and we are dedicated to its advancement and eventual commercial adoption.

 

Automatic Route Generation And Cable Network Optimization For Offshore Windfarms

September, 2021

Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc. (Makai) has developed a software tool that brings advanced automation and cost savings for subsea terrain-based optimization problems. While this software can be used for a number of terrain based optimization problems, the initial purpose of its development was for automatic subsea cable route engineering. This tool is ideally suited for offshore renewable energy projects such as windfarms due to their complex inter array cable and export cable networks.

Makai Submarine Cable Software Suite Description in UT2 Magazine

April, 2021

Makai’s software suite is suited for various stages of the submarine cable lifecycle. MakaiPlan is used for calculating the optimal cable route across the seabed.

Newsletter

To keep an eye on Makai, check out our newsletter. The links to the latest and all previous newsletters are included below. 

Subscribe to our newsletter

Makai invites you to subscribe to our newsletter. We will respect your time and inbox. You may expect short, simple, updates on (what we think are) pretty cool ocean technology projects about once a year.

We hope you enjoy!

Want to see a sample of our newsletter? Click here.

Upcoming Events

Makai will be attending the following events. If you are attending these, please be sure to reach out to schedule a time to meet while at the event.

Offshore Wind Transmission West 2023

San Francisco, CA

June 14-15, 2023

Have a project that could leverage Makai’s Expertise?
ReACH OUT!

Contact us by sending in this form any time you need professional support or have any questions. You can also fill in the form to leave your comments or feedback for Makai’s team.