The Orkney-based European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) has provided on the ground operational support to the Marine Energy Test Area (META) in Pembrokeshire in Wales.
The support is part of an agreement signed in April 2020 between Marine Energy Wales and EMEC.
META consists of eight pre-consented test sites located in and around the Milford Haven Waterway (pictured).
It aims to help de-risk the development of marine energy projects by providing the opportunity to test scale and full-scale devices, sub-assemblies and components in sites that are accessible yet still representative of real sea environments.
EMEC has supported on test centre best practice and operational procedures.
EMEC project officer Saul Young has been seconded into the META team for the last six months.
Young with support from the EMEC technical management team has supported the Welsh centre by conducting a facility review including a gap analysis, developing standard operating procedures for the safe and efficient operation of META, and assisting with client management.
The collaboration has also brought together other key operational stakeholders, including the Port of Milford Haven and ORE Catapult, to inform the procedures which will govern the day-to-day operations at META.
META will now look to build on the outputs of the project and establish itself as an operational test centre.
META project manager Bethan Simes said: “EMEC have almost two decades of extensive operating experience that we were able to draw on in developing our operating procedures for META.
“The learning and best practices that have been shared from the EMEC team have been invaluable in progressing META to the operational phase, meaning we haven’t had to reinvent the wheel and enabling us to get off the ground quickly.
“We look forward to a continued collaborative relationship with EMEC, as together these projects provide key innovation hubs in our respective regions and by working together, we can help accelerate this industry to the benefit of the UK and to reach our net-zero targets.”
EMEC technical engineer Elaine Buck said: “This collaboration has been a great success, allowing EMEC’s test centre best practice to be shared and implemented effectively, to set up META for its operational phase.
“This project is a great example of the value in collaboration to strive for a globally successful marine energy industry.
“We wish META all the best going forward as an operational test centre and look forward to future collaborations between EMEC and META.”