Hurricane Ophelia flags up Penguin WEC survivability

Finland-headquartered Wello claims to be leading the way as the only wave energy company deployed throughout the year at the EMEC wave test site in Orkney Island, Scotland.

Wello also reports that the innovative mooring system has performed very well with no maintenance requirement or even indications of component wear.

The Pengiun WEC is 30m long by 16m beam. Weighing 220 tons it delivers a nominal power of 600kW.

Power generation has been in line with expectations based on simulations and scale tests. “This Penguin device represents our early design and doesn’t reach those figures that we expect from our next unit, which we are constructing at Netaman shipyard at the moment“, says Mr. Heikki Paakkinen, the CEO of Wello.

Wello has also received 2.5 M€ EU H2020 SME2-funding for its PTO module commercialization. Wello scored excellent points in the H2020 SME evaluation process in tough competition with Europe-wide renewable energy technology providers all competing in the same category.

Power Module is Wello’s new wave converter device, which is the next evolution from the Wello Penguin wave converter technology. Wello Power Modules can be installed on any large offshore vessel or ship, where it produces renewable offshore electrical energy. In parallel with the energy production, the device absorbs the vessel’s motion in waves, which helps vessel stability and thereby improves vessel safety and comfort at sea. Wello sees great potential for the Power Module installations in offshore vessels for the Oil & gas industry, fish farms, as well as for next generation cruise liners which target high a level of sustainability.

By Jake Frith