By K.Steiner-Dicks on Mar 3, 2015

ORE Catapult, EMEC and AFRC join forces to improve marine component reliability

Companies mentioned: Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, EMEC, University of Strathclyde Advanced Forming Research Centre, Nautricity

ORE Catapult, EMEC and AFRC join forces to improve marine component reliability

The UK’s wave and tidal industry is strategically important to the UK economy, and could be worth around £76bn cumulatively by 2050.

That is why three of the UK’s leading technology, research and testing centres are working together on a joint project to test and analyse components in wave and tidal devices to improve component reliability, improve performance and reduce the cost of marine energy.

The Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult is working with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (ARFC), part of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, to build a database identifying the common failure mechanisms of components.

EMEC will undertake a ‘forensic analysis’ of a variety of components that have failed to some degree across a range of wave and tidal energy devices, with AFRC providing support around component testing.

The resulting report will be made available to support the sector in engineering design choices around components and materials.

However, in the highly energetic marine environment, component failure contributes to high industry costs, which must be reduced if the industry is to move towards commercialisation and compete effectively with other sources of energy supply.

Nautricity secures grid-connected test berth at EMEC

Scottish tidal turbine developer Nautricity has secured a grid connected tidal test berth at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), following successful sea trials at EMEC’s non-grid connected site last year.

The company is now moving a step closer to commercialisation having secured a test berth at EMEC’s Fall of Warness test site for its next generation prototype - putting their technology to the test in some of the harshest sea conditions on the planet.

In 2014, Nautricity tested its CoRMaT tidal energy converter and Hydrobuoy mooring system at EMEC’s Shapinsay Sound test site gaining experience of operating in real sea conditions.

“The objectives for Nautricity’s forthcoming operations at EMEC are threefold: we want to undertake technical de-risking of a grid connected 0.5MW CoRMaT tidal turbine within higher energetic tidal sites; evaluate the performance of Nautricity’s new foundation system designed for shallower water operations; and demonstrate the ability to quickly deploy our tidal technology in tidal sites with short operating windows using smaller scale vessels,” said Cameron Johnstone, Nautricity’s Chief Executive Officer.

The developer is keen to get to get the next CoRMaT turbine into the water so it can build on its experience in Orkney conditions.

“We’ve previously been through 3 scale prototype testing programs – as well as the full scale second generation device tested at EMEC’s Shapinsay Sound site last year.

“The principle of undertaking these tests was to hone in on the components of the complete system, and test individual components safely and easily. We are now looking forward to combining these to test a fully operational system.”

Neil Kermode, EMEC’s managing director, said accessible real sea testing enables marine energy developers and suppliers to learn lessons earlier, more cheaply, and provide a stepping stone towards larger scale projects.