New wave energy converter put to the test
Flemish wave energy developer, Laminaria, has joined forces with the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), Innosea, Ghent University, and TTI Testing to support the development of their new wave energy converter (WEC).
Funded under the OCEANERA-NET First Joint Call 2014, the LAMWEC project seeks to develop and test a 100kW Laminaria WEC, progressing from TRL stage 5 (technology validated in relevant environment) to 7 (system prototype demonstration in operational environment).
The main focus of the project is to prove the survivability in extreme storm conditions of the Laminaria WEC at pre-commercial scale.
Steven Nauwelaerts, Laminaria’s CEO, said: “We are keen to come and test our technology at full scale at the challenging EMEC site. We are confident that our technology can survive any storm with conservation of nominal production. Together with our partners the aim of the LAMWEC project is to develop a device that is reliable and predictable in O&M.”
The LAMWEC consortium will address specific technology challenges, including the development of a mooring and pulley system to support the innovative storm protection system, power take-off (PTO), frame and new anchor design.
The project will culminate in the testing and performance assessment of Laminaria’s wave converter at EMEC’s grid-connected wave test site at Billia Croo, off the west coast of Orkney in 2017.
By Rebecca Strong
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