Aquamarine secures £580,000 EU grant

Funding will accelerate development of its Oyster wave energy converter

Aquamarine Power has secured a £580,000 European Union grant to accelerate development of its commercial Oyster wave energy converter.

The Edinburgh firm will work with the one of the world’s leading experts on wave energy, Professor John Ringwood from the Centre for Ocean Energy Research at Maynooth University, National University of Ireland, (NUIM), after both were awarded the EU Horizon 2020 grant.

Maynooth University’s role in the project is to develop computer automated systems which maximise the power capture of the Oyster device. Wave energy converters should be operational for 20 years and the research will analyse the optimum shape and maintenance interventions to maximise the economic performance of the system.

The project, INNOWAVE, will explore ways to optimise the energy capture and economic performance of wave energy devices. Three newly recruited early-stage researchers will divide their time over the three-year project between Maynooth’s Centre for Ocean Energy Research and the Aquamarine Power premises in Edinburgh and Belfast, with site visits to the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, where Aquamarine Power has been testing its Oyster device for the past four years.

Professor John Ringwood, Maynooth University, said: “This is a very exciting project which has the potential to greatly advance the field of wave energy and progress its development as a commercially viable energy source. It’s a great example of academia and industry collaborating to progress research which can have a monumental impact on energy provision for future generations.”

Paddy O’Kane, Aquamarine power chief executive officer, said: “We believe that Maynooth’s research centre and team are at the very forefront of innovation in wave energy device optimisation and control and we look forward to working with them on this exciting new research programme with very clear academic and commercial goals.

“Aquamarine Power’s aim is to become the world’s leading supplier of utility-scale wave farm power stations. With the survivability and performance potential of our Oyster wave technology now largely proven, following four years of continuous deployment at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, we are significantly advanced towards that goal.”

The funding for INNOWAVE was awarded as part of the EU’s Horizon 2020 fund, the largest EU Research and Innovation programme with nearly €80 billion of funding, under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 676061.

The Centre for Ocean Energy Research at Maynooth University has been in existence for 15 years and is a part of the SFI-funded MaREI national centre for marine renewable energy.

The award follows the recent announcement of £2million funding from Wave Energy Scotland to Aquamarine Power, Bosch Rexroth and Carnegie Wave Energy to complete testing of their scale prototype and deliver the design and specification for a full-scale prototype WavePOD offshore power take off system.