Marine Power Systems and WavEC have joined forces to deploy modular floating offshore wind platform technology in the northern region of Portugal.
By signing a Memorandum of Understanding, WavEC and Marine Power Systems intend to lay the foundations for a long-term relationship that identifies opportunities for the implementation of Marine Power System’s technology in Portuguese waters.
This includes the future Technological Free Zone at Viana do Castelo, and other potential sites.
Furthermore, this collaboration will generate a two-way bridge for sharing data and optimising the deployment of MPS technology in Portuguese waters.
Technological Free Zones provide a pre-consented area with grid connection where renewable energy technology can be more easily deployed and tested without incurring all the normal regulatory processes.
This follows the recent news that Marine Power Systems is to demonstrate a commercial scale array at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland.
The Portuguese government has shown its commitment to offshore wind with the recent announcement that it is targeting 10GW of capacity by 2030 alone.
Furthermore, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), Ocean Renewable Energy Action Coalition (OREAC), and the World Bank’s Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP), 90% of the 131GW offshore wind potential identified in Portugal is dependent on floating foundations as opposed to fixed bottom turbines.
WavEC, is a co-founder of the OceanACT consortium, which intends to generate an institution aimed at promoting offshore testing infrastructures in Portugal for blue economy technologies.
WavEC has grown to become a leading centre of excellence in offshore renewable energy and is currently one of the co-managers of the Aguçadoura test site in the north region of Portugal.
WavEC intends to support MPS throughout the licensing and consenting process, as well as the environmental impact assessment and performance monitoring in Portugal, for which WavEC bring extensive expertise and experience.
Marine Power Systems chief executive Gareth Stockman said: “This project will demonstrate our unique and modular floating platform technology, PelaFlex, at scale.
“Our technology has been designed to optimise local content delivery through a decentralised logistics model, and these benefits help utility scale developers minimise costs whilst maximising local economic benefits and accelerating industrial scale farm development.
“The deep-water zone at Viana do Castelo brings an excellent wind resource with a grid connection making it a first-rate site for deployment.
“We are thrilled to be working in Portugal and our partners bring huge expertise and local knowledge to the work we are doing there.”
WavEC chief executive Marco Alves added: “For many years now WavEC (and Portugal) has been a leader in promoting marine renewable energies, both from technology and market development standpoints.
“We always welcome companies to test and demonstrate their technologies in an open deep-water Atlantic coast environment as the one in Viana do Castelo.
“We look forward to working with MPS on the deployment of their technology, providing support in licensing and consenting, environmental monitoring and impact assessment, performance assessment and engaging with the supply chain.”