The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) is encouraging wind, wave and tidal energy developers, supply chain companies and research organisations to apply for access to the centre’s test facilities.
Projects can be focused on testing marine energy devices, components or subsystems for short to medium term durations.
Through MaRINET-2, successful applications will receive free access to EMEC’s world-leading testing infrastructure on the Orkney islands, which includes four offshore sites and a range of associated testing equipment.
The call is targeted at companies developing systems and components for the offshore energy sector, including wind, wave and tidal energy technologies.
MaRINET-2 is a £10 million project funded by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme, and coordinated by the MaREI (Marine and Renewable Energy Ireland) Centre.
MaRINET-2 follows the first MaRINET project – where over 700 weeks of access was made available to 178 projects and 800 companies over the 4.5 year initiative.
Matthew Finn, Senior Business Development Manager at EMEC, outlined the benefits. He said: “MaRINET provides emerging technology developers with an excellent route to testing their machines at EMEC and working with the Orkney supply chain who have unprecedented experience of marine energy deployments.
“The companies that tested at EMEC through the first MaRINET project found that the learning generated from deploying in the sea has been invaluable to the development of their technologies.
For example, Alejandro Marques de Magallanes, Managing Director of Magallanes Renovables, recounts the company’s success from the first MaRINET funding project.
He said: “Installing our 1:10 scale prototype at EMEC’s Shapinsay Sound scale test site allowed us to demonstrate the integrity and viability of the concept and its subsystems in a real sea climate.
“The real-sea experience provided us with a better understanding of the operations and maintenance requirements for the system and we are grateful to the MaRINET project and EMEC for enabling us to benefit from access to the test site.
“MaRINET also aided our success with Horizon 2020, and data obtained through these initial trials is now being fed into the design of our 2MW floating platform being developed as part of the H2020 Ocean 2G project.”
The second generation ATIR is due to be installed at EMEC’s grid-connected test site following controlled tests in Vigo, Spain.
Applications should be made by 28 February 2018.
9 Jan 2018
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