OYSTER TO RIDE UK WAVES

£5.1M Government Funding Secured To Develop Wave Energy Device, Oyster 2
February 2, 2010 (Aquamarine Power via Horizon Solutions Site)

"Wave energy developer Aquamarine Power received a major boost…when it secured £5.1 million of public funding to support the manufacture of its second generation wave energy device, Oyster 2, which will be manufactured later this year for testing at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney (EMEC) in 2011.

"Aquamarine Power received the grant from the Marine Renewables Proving Fund (MRPF), a £22 million initiative funded by the UK Government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and managed by the Carbon Trust…[to accelerate its qualification for the UK’s] Marine Renewables Deployment Fund support scheme and, ultimately, be deployed on a commercial scale. Aquamarine Power plans to deploy its first commercial Oyster devices in 2013."

Oyster schematic (from Aquamarine Power. click to enlarge)

"The first generation 315kW Oyster device was officially connected to the National Grid at EMEC…in November 2009 and is currently undergoing sea trials to gather data to finalize the Oyster 2 design, which will be deployed as a 2.5MW pod of three linked devices powering a single onshore hydro-electric generator. This follows a two year research programme including scale-model tank testing…"

Real-life Oyster (from Aquamarine Power. click to enlarge)

"The Oyster 2 device features a new shape designed for increased performance and efficiency – capturing more of the ocean’s energy and producing more power per tonne of steel. The device has also been designed for mass manufacture and will consist of a modular construction for ease of installation and maintenance. Multiple devices will share one pipeline and one onshore generator which will offer efficiencies of scale…

"Aquamarine Power has won numerous national and international awards for innovation in the renewable energy sector including ‘Innovator of the Year’ (British Renewable Energy Awards 2009), ‘Best Green Industry SME’ (Scottish Green Awards 2009) and The Engineer Award for Technology and Innovation in Energy’ (The Engineer Technology and Innovation Awards 2009)…"