Inverness-based AWS Ocean Energy reported results from sea trials of its wave energy device installed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.
In a “key highlight” of the scientific testing programme to date at EMEC’s Scapa Flow test site, the Waveswing wave energy converter captured average power over 10kW and peaks of 80kW, during a period of moderate wave conditions.
These figures exceeded the developer’s own predictions by 20%.
Other key findings underline the survivability potential of the subsea Waveswing which continued to deliver power in poor weather conditions.
The testing programme also demonstrated that deployment of the Waveswing from sitting on the quayside to being installed and fully operational is possible in under 12 hours.
This phase of sea trials is scheduled to complete by the year end and AWS is looking to re-deploy for further testing early in 2023.
Simon Grey, CEO of AWS Ocean Energy, said: “These figures underline our strong belief that Waveswing is the real deal.
“While we have always been confident about the performance potential of the Waveswing, it is wonderful to see that confidence endorsed by real data.
“We believe this performance compares very favourably with equivalent figures for any previous wave device tested on the same site.”
The company is now seeking discussions with commercialisation partners, other end users and “anyone who is genuinely interested” in developing commercial wave power.
This includes, for example, sponsored testing programmes, so that partners can get to know the Waveswing and its potential “up close”, Grey said.