A Clydebank naval architecture and marine engineering consultancy firm will see their designs come to life as the fabrication of the largest ever wave energy device to be built in the United States has been announced.
Marine Engineers and Naval Architects from Tritec Marine, based in Clydebank Business Park, have supplied technical design and testing services to Ireland’s Ocean Energy for the creation of its 826-ton, 125 ft long, ‘OE Buoy’ hydrokinetic convertor.
The landmark announcement is part of a $12 million project part-funded by the US Department of Energy’s office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), under an agreement committing the American and Irish governments to collaborate on marine energy technologies.
Dr George Mermiris, Technical Manager, Tritec Marine, joined representatives from Ocean Energy and US-based fabricator Vigor in the Irish Embassy in Washington DC recently at the build announcement.
George said: “The OE Buoy will be the largest wave energy device ever built in the US and we as design and analysis consultants are very proud to have played a part in Ocean Energy’s important project.
“The latest round of engineering analysis conducted by Tritec Marine included global finite element analysis, coupled with hydrodynamic loading, and mooring design. This resulted in a set of drawings based on which the device will be fabricated.
“It was an honour to be invited to our client’s official announcement in Washington DC which is of significance to both the US and Irish Government energy departments.”
Tritec Marine modelled and analysed the way the device will perform in real ocean conditions.
Simon Coveney, Irish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, said, “Building on the Irish‐US government MoU for collaboration on marine and hydrokinetic energy technologies’ research, Ocean Energy and its partners are demonstrating how transatlantic cooperation can yield immensely productive results.”
The “OE Buoy” will measure 125 x 59 feet with a draft of 31 feet and has a potential rated capacity of up to 1.25 MW
Ireland-based Ocean Energy has announced its “OE Buoy” marine hydrokinetic convertor will be built in Oregon and deployed for testing at a US Navy wave energy test site off Hawaii.
26 Feb 2018
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