A new strategic partnership for wave energy

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wave energy

Aquamarine Power a well known wave energy developer has joined its forces with BAE Systems in a commercial project designed to create the world’s first wave farm.

As is written in an article appeared on BBC News “the two companies will examine ways of enabling large-scale commercial production of Aquamarine’s new wave energy device, known as Oyster”.

The first full-scale Oyster 1 wave power device was installed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland in the summer of 2009 and was connected to the National Grid in November 2009. This device is currently undergoing sea trials to gather data to finalize the design of the next-generation Oyster 2. At the officially launched of Oyster 1 on November 20th 2009 Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond said: “I’m delighted to see first-hand the full-scale Oyster now installed and operating offshore. This is a key milestone for Aquamarine Power and for Scotland’s marine renewable sector.”

Technically speaking Oyster is a hinged flap connected to the sea-bed which uses wave power to deliver high-pressure water to an onshore turbine.

The current project has been co-funded with £900,000 by the Technology Strategy Board a business-focused organization dedicated to promoting technology-enabled innovation across the UK.

Under this new partnership, engineers at BAE Systems will work with Edinburgh-based Aquamarine to develop an intelligent diagnostic system and remote ballasting mechanism for the Oyster.

Aquamarine’s chief executive, Martin McAdam, said: “The Oyster system works well and our next step is to drive down the cost of electricity generated from wave power through improvements in Oyster reliability and reduced maintenance costs.”

The companies believe these innovations will drive down maintenance costs and help to maximize energy production.

Aquamarine, which is seeking a total of £50m of investment in the Oyster, plans to deploy its new Oyster 2 device next summer. With the same technology principles as Oyster 1 but with a new shape which has been designed for increased performance and efficiency – capturing more of the ocean’s energy and producing more power per tone of steel at a capacity of 2.5MW the company believes the new version could deliver 250% more power than the original device.

Personally I am very enthusiastic about all innovative devices. What do you think about producing green energy through this device?

5 COMMENTS

  1. You made some good points there. I did a search on the actual topic properly found most people will agree with your blog.

  2. Patent 108893 entitled Dynamic Engine for Sea Wave Energy Catching. A pioneering invention. It is estimated that “dynamic engine” has the ability to catching wave energy at a rate of over 80% while the other technical solutions known worldwide, are not able to capture wave energy with a higher percentage of about 10-15%.
    Cosma Vasile. Romania. E-mail cosma.vasile@yahoo.com

  3. Did you know that Romania has a technical solution with the highest efficiency to capture wave power?.
    Patent 108893 entitled Dynamic Engine for Sea Wave Energy Catching. A pioneering invention. It is estimated that “dynamic engine” has the ability to catching wave energy at a rate of over 80% while the other technical solutions known worldwide, are not able to capture wave energy with a higher percentage of about 10-15%.
    Cosma Vasile. Romania. E-mail cosma.vasile@yahoo.com

  4. Some information for patent “Dynamic Engine” can be found on:
    – Ocean energy: Wave energy | Climate TechWiki
    – “First Wave Energy Device Connected to Power Grid | Science”

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