Wave Energy Scotland has announced a £720,000 public-private partnership which will demonstrate wave energy converters as a means of powering offshore aquaculture installations and potentially, remote island communities.
Wave energy technology developer, Albatern, is behind the commercial demonstration and has teamed up with one of the world’s largest seafood companies, Marine Harvest, which is hosting the project next to their fish farm site near Ardnamurchan.
Albatern is a Scottish based wave energy device developer, based in Roslin, near Edinburgh. It has developed a modular array system to convert energy from waves into electricity.
A WES spokesman explained: “This project brings together Scotland’s largest fish farming company and an established wave energy technology developer with industry-ready devices.
“The results of this demonstration will help inform future public and private sector investment in wave energy technology, and could also potentially revolutionise the way fish farms and remote island and coastal communities are powered in the future, dramatically reducing their carbon footprints.”
David Campbell, Commercial Director, Albatern, added, “We are very pleased to play a key part in demonstrating wave energy working commercially on an operating fish farm.
“It also gives us the opportunity to show how our WaveNET array system can be applied to other offshore and coastal projects around the globe.”
Scottish Energy Minister, Fergus Ewing commented: “This exciting project could be a huge step-change leading to fish farms and remote island communities being powered by clean, sustainable wave energy. It provides an excellent opportunity to see first-hand wave energy working in a commercial environment.”
Pixie Energy is an incubator and a facilitator of strategic research and project work, focusing on energy regulation, policy and markets at the local and national level. Find out more about Pixie Energy