Video: Inverness firm's wavepower prototype, AWS Waveswing, gets shakedown at EMEC's Orkney test centre
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Inverness-based AWS Ocean Energy has commenced sea trials of its Waveswing wave energy converter at Orkney's European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).
The initial shakedown testing at EMEC’s Scapa Flow test site involved 10 significant lifting, marine or diving operations demonstrating the practical deployment, operation and recovery of the Waveswing device. The device has now been recovered to shore for detailed inspection prior to being re-deployed at EMEC’s test site.
This important milestone in the development of the 16 kW Archimedes Waveswing follows successful quayside testing and preparation at Copland’s Dock in Stromness since its arrival in Orkney in late January. Since then several short weather windows have enabled deployment of the anchor and anchor block, umbilical cable and EMEC’s test support buoy, as well as two trial deployments of the Waveswing.
When installed, the 50 ton, seven-metre high, four-metre diameter device is moored to a gravity-base anchor on the seabed using a single tension tether and sits around three metres below the surface.
The Waveswing generates energy by reacting to changes in pressure caused by passing waves. The subsea location and ability to winch low in the water column allows extreme storm loadings to be avoided so that the device can continue to operate in rough sea conditions. The Waveswing is also designed to react to long ocean swell waves as well as short, wind-driven seas, for high energy capture.
The shakedown test is designed to look at some of the key scientific uncertainties over the behaviour of the Waveswing including how the device will respond to changing water depth and pressure.
The £3.4 million prototype development project has been funded by Wave Energy Scotland (WES), as part of the Novel Wave Energy Converter development programme. The demonstration at EMEC is also supported by the Interreg North-West Europe’s Ocean DEMO project.
Simon Grey, chief executive of AWS Ocean Energy, said: “Completion of this initial phase of testing is without doubt the most significant step forward yet in the development of Waveswing. These tests could not be carried out at model scale, nor could they be modelled using computers with any degree of certainty.
"The results confirm what we have hoped for in terms of performance potential. Furthermore, demonstrating the practical deployment, operation and recovery of the Waveswing is also a significant step. Getting to this stage is a tribute to the skills and commitment of the whole team at AWS, our subcontractors and the fantastic support we have received from EMEC, WES and many others.
“Since arriving in Orkney our team has completed no less than 10 significant lifting, marine or diving operations. The support of the Orkney supply chain in completing these, despite the weather, has been tremendous.”
Mr. Grey suggest that once the testing process is complete, the design could be suitable for remote power applications such as powering subsea oilfield assets and oceanographic monitoring, but was also confident it cold be used in multi-absorber platforms to achieve the scale necessary to make a significant contribution to renewable energy supplies.
"We expect to develop platforms hosting up to 20 units with a potential capacity of 10 MW per platform. We are currently seeking development partners to join us on this exciting journey”.
WES managing director Tim Hurst said: “WES has supported the development of this technology throughout its competitive Novel Wave Energy Converter programme.
"The Waveswing offers design features that independent assessors have highly rated for their potential to deliver reliability and cost reduction to wave energy, and it’s great to see that these features will now be tested in a real sea environment. The data gathered will be an important output of the WES programme and will support future developments.”
EMEC managing director Neil Kermode conmented: “Congratulations to the team at AWS for their hard work in reaching this exciting milestone. It’s incredibly encouraging to see another wave energy device embarking on real-sea testing, a crucial step in the development of any emerging marine technology. We look forward to continuing to work alongside the AWS team as they put the Waveswing to the test to gather data and test systems to inform design of future commercial-ready devices. The learnings derived from these trials will be vital in helping the technology towards commercialisation.”
