British wave energy pioneer Aquamarine Power said it will start building a foundation for its Oyster wave energy device as it draws nearer to commercializing its unique marine concept.
Falmouth, England-based marine driller Fugro Seacore will start building the foundation this summer. The company will start drilling and installation of steel piles for three Oyster devices at Billia Croo near Stromness in Orkney.
Aquamarine Power is installing a single Oyster 2 device this summer with two more devices to be put in place in 2012. Together the three Oyster 2 devices will form a 2.4-megawatt array connected to a single onshore generating plant.
The foundation-laying will cost about £3 million ($4.9 million). Seacore previously installed the piles for Aquamarine Power’s Oyster 1, also at Billia Croo, in 2009.
The news follows Aquamarine Power’s announcement in December of an £11 million investment from multinational power company ABB and other investors.
Aquamarine was established in February 2005 after two years of developing the Oyster wave power technology at Queen’s University Belfast. By 2008, the company had completed its first full scale 315-kilowatt Oyster wave power device.
The Oyster is a buoyant device attached to the seabed approximately ten meters in depth and about half a kilometer away from the shore. It has a hinged flap which sways backwards and forwards, driven by the waves. The movement in turn drives two hydraulic pistons which push high pressure water onshore to drive a hydro-electric turbine.
British energy and climate change secretary Chris Huhne, who witnessed the contract signing between the two companies, stressed Britain’s leadership in marine renewables technology. But he said the challenge is “to see it deployed commercially.”
“As we face oil prices beyond $100 a barrel and the clearest evidence yet of the physical dangers to the U.K. of manmade climate change, innovations such as the Oyster are the sure-fire insurance policy with a big economic dividend,” Mr. Huhne said.
Currently, Aquamarine Power’s goal for Britain is to capitalize on its existing global lead in marine energy and deliver the first commercial arrays within the next five years.
