Mocean completes first offshore trials of wave energy system

Mocean Energy’s Blue X wave energy machine has returned to dock following five months of tests offshore Orkney, northern Scotland.

The 20-metre (65.6-foot) long, 38-metric ton (42-ton) wave machine has been towed from EMEC’s Scapa Flow test site to Kirkwall, Orkney, and has been lifted onto Hatston Pier.

There it will undergo cleaning, inspection, and maintenance until next year’s testing programme.

Testing of the 10-kW prototype began in mid-June and it has since completed 154 days at sea, delivering up to 5 kW of power and safe instantaneous peaks of 30 kW, while operating in sea states up to 2.3 metres (7.5 feet) maximum wave height.

Mocean Energy managing director Cameron McNatt said: “We have been able to understand how our machine operates in real sea conditions and gain practical experience in operations including towing, installation, removal, and access at sea.

“We’ve been able to unmoor, tow and moor the machine multiple times, trial the use of solar panels on deck, send commands from shore, test power production and compare our results against our numerical predictions.

“This has given us tremendous confidence in our design – both in its ability to capture wave energy effectively, and also the way in which it dives below the biggest waves, enabling it to shed the heaviest loads.”

Wave Energy Scotland, EMEC, Blackfish, Leask Marine, the University of Edinburgh and Supply Design and others have supported the development.

Next year, the plan is to put the device to sea off Orkney again, connecting it to a subsea battery which will power a remotely-operated AUV, with potential applications for offshore oil and gas.

Wave Energy Scotland and Interreg North-West Europe’s Ocean DEMO project supported the deployment and demonstration of the Blue X at EMEC.

Tim Hurst, managing director of Wave Energy Scotland, said: “In the years ahead, we will see Mocean Energy scale up its wave energy convertors to produce future technologies with potential to help decarbonise the oil and gas sector and deliver grid-scale electricity.

“At this moment, the UK government is actively considering implementing a ring-fenced market support mechanism for marine energy, which could enable Britain’s wave and tidal sector to take a global lead.”

Earlier this year Mocean Energy announced a project with OGTC, Harbour Energy, EC-OG, and Modus to demonstrate the potential of the Blue X prototype to power a subsea battery and a remote underwater vehicle, via onshore tests at EC-OG’s Aberdeen facility.

Source: Offshore Magazine