Wave energy company Seatricity is set to develop a 10MW wave energy scheme at the government’s offshore renewables test site near Cornwall.
Seatricity, which has offices in Orkney, plans to deploy its second generation wave power device at the Wave Hub site next year and eventually build out to a full-scale grid-connected array in 2015.
The company’s patented Oceanus technology involves an aluminium float that travels up and down with the waves, operating a pump to pressurise sea water to drive a hydroelectric turbine.
The floats are tied to blocks on the seabed, and the pumps are linked together to generate large amounts of highly pressurised water.
“Our first generation Oceanus 1 device has undergone extensive and successful sea trials in Scotland and we are ready to make the next step to Wave Hub,” said Seatricity managing director Peter Mitchell.
“The technology is scalable so once we complete our testing next year we hope to move quickly to a full array.
“Wave Hub gives us the essential grid capacity to do that and we look forward to working with the team in Hayle and the extensive local supply chain in Cornwall.”
Seatricity says it will build its next generation Oceanus 2 device in Cornwall and use the local supply chain to support its marine operations. The company also plans to locate it’s custom-built work boat – Ocean Enterprise – to Wave Hub’s home port of Hayle.
The Wave Hub provides shared offshore infrastructure for the demonstration and testing of wave energy over a sustained period of time.
It is made up of an electrical hub on the seabed 16 kilometres off the north coast of Cornwall.
Wave Hub managing director Claire Gibson said the site was designed in response to industry demand for full-scale array testing.
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