Swedish wave energy developer CorPower Ocean has agreed to test its novel resonant wave energy converter at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.
The move follows CorPower’s success in Wave Energy Scotland’s power-take-off call that, combined with funding from KIC InnoEnergy and the Swedish Energy Agency, completes a €6.5m funding round for dry rig testing of a half scale prototype system, to be followed by ocean deployment at the EMEC test site in Scapa Flow.
The project aims to deliver a reliable power take-off solution using innovative WaveSpring control technology to achieve a step-change improvement in performance and cost to the wave energy sector.
The unique technology will be taken through a programme of structured verification guided by best practice support from EMEC, alongside the experience from offshore power generation company Iberdrola Engineering, Edinburgh University and WavEC Offshore Renewables’ expertise in cost and performance modelling.
The project will involve a five-month programme of cyclical dry and wet testing of the system in Orkney, culminating in a performance assessment by EMEC.
Prior to arriving in Orkney, the PTO will undergo a five-month dry test period in Stockholm using the same test rig, thereby significantly de-risking the ocean deployment.
Neil Kermode, EMEC Managing Director, said: “This is a particularly exciting project as it includes the installation of additional infrastructure – a PTO dry test rig – near the Scapa Flow wave test site. This test rig will act as a lasting legacy of Corpower’s test programme and WES’ foresight, as it will be available to support the development of other wave and tidal energy converters in the future.”
Patrik Möller, Chief Executive, CorPower, said: “We have the largest respect for the challenges presented by the ocean environment, and we are working closely with EMEC and the local supply chain on Orkney to make this project highly successful.
“We see a great opportunity to establish a long lasting presence in Scotland.”
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