Tank testing to develop the next step for a wave energy device has been successfully completed in France.
The Pelamis P2e scale models were tested over a month-long period at the Ecole Centrale de Nantes to see how they cope under extreme conditions.
The new designs, which follow from the P2 devices at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, were tested in the equivalent of 23m high waves for 50 hours.
“We’ve learned so much from the P2 machines being demonstrated in Orkney,” said Pelamis technology director Ross Henderson.
“The new P2e design must provide a return for the first commercial project investors and this means more power throughout the year but without more cost.
“We have found that the fundamentals have been proved right with the Pelamis so far, so we’re taking the P2 technology platform and enhancing it into a much more powerful, reliable, and economic machine.”
Following the testing, part of a £1.4million project funded by the Energy Technologies Institute, the project will now move into a detailed design phase.
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