Marine renewables marked a milestone yesterday when the first wave power device to be sold to a utility firm celebrated a year since being grid-connected.
Edinburgh-based Pelamis Wave Power’s device, which was sold to utility E.ON, was installed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney in October last year.
It has since involved 260,000 man-hours of construction, commissioning and testing with no lost-time incidents.
Pelamis also said it had proven rapid installation and removal systems, machine function wave-energy conversion efficiencies better than design targets.
Ed Maycock, the Orkney project manager for Pelamis, said: “This project has been a great success so far, with many challenges overcome and with many technical achievements outstripping our expectations.”
Amaan Lafayette, marine development manager at E.ON, said: “Over the past year we’ve learned a lot about how wave machines act in real operating conditions.
“It’s been a challenging, but really exciting 12 months. Wave-power creates a significant generating opportunity for a company like E.ON, by broadening our renewable portfolio and potentially helping with the intermittency of other technologies.
“I’m, personally, very excited to be working on this project and now with the proposed 5ROC support for marine renewables, wave farms are looking increasingly likely.”
Pelamis also said the last 12 months had allowed it to put into practice a “plug and play” system, which enables Pelamis machines to be maintained in sheltered harbours rather than at sea.
Recommended for you
