Belgian wave energy developer Laminaria has teamed up with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Innosea, Ghent University and TTI Testing to support the development of its wave energy converter (WEC).
The project seeks to develop and test a 100kW Laminaria WEC – progressing from the mid to late development stages which would see a prototype demonstration in an operational environment.
Its testing and performance assessment will culminate in 2017 at EMEC’s grid-connected wave test site at Billia Croo off the west coast of Orkney.
Laminaria said the main focus of the project will be on the survivability of the WEC at pre-commercial scale in extreme storm conditions.
The consortium will address several technology challenges, including the development of a mooring and pulley system to support the storm protection system, power take-off and frame and new anchor design.
The project is funded under the Oceanera-Net First Joint Call 2014,
Laminaria chief executive officer Steven Nauwelaerts said: “We are keen to come and test our technology at full scale at the challenging EMEC site.
“We are confident that our technology can survive any storm with conservation of nominal production.”
Image: the main focus of the project will be on survivability in extreme conditions (sxc)
