A major breakthrough in wave energy technology has been hailed by First Minister Alex Salmond at Methil’s Energy Park Fife.
Designed by Aquamarine Power and built by Burntisland Fabrications (BiFab), the Oyster 800 is a wave energy converter capable of generating enough power for 750 homes.
It is robust enough to withstand a battering from the sea and, at a third of the cost, can generate two and half times more power than the Oyster I prototype installed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney in 2009.
Mr Salmond said it marked a “significant day” for Scotland’s offshore renewables sector.
He said, “Aquamarine Power has made huge progress in less than two years since its first Oyster device was connected to the grid at EMEC a testament to the vision, commitment and expertise throughout the company.
“I’m delighted that the Scottish Government and our public sector partners have been able to support the progress of this exciting frontier technology. BiFab is another Scottish success story which, by successfully delivering the Oyster 800 device, has underlined once again the skills of its workforce and its capability to manufacture a wide and diverse range of fabrications for offshore energy developers.
“Scotland is in the rapids of a renewables revolution and the delivery of the new, more efficient and powerful Oyster 800 device represents a new surge towards the deployment of commercially competitive wave power arrays to deliver clean, green energy.”
The project received grant funding from Scottish Enterprise and the Carbon Trust’s Marine Renewables Proving Fund. It is the first of three Oyster 800s set to be installed at the EMEC. Along with the other two, being deployed in 2012 and 2013, it will be linked to an onshore hydro-electric plant.
Martin McAdam, chief executive officer of Aquamarine Power, said, “The Oyster 800 is a significant advance on our first device. Our dedicated engineering and research and development teams have designed it to be simpler, more robust and more efficient. This means we can offer 250% more power at a third of the cost.
“Our goal is to make future Oysters cost competitive within the next few years. The Oyster 800 will help us gather the data that we need to deliver on that.
“A farm of just 20 Oyster 800 devices would generate sufficient power for up to 15,000 homes.”
BiFab managing director John Robertson said, “The challenge for all companies operating in the renewables sector is bringing the products to market at a competitive value, and the ability to deliver large quantities of units on an annual basis. Oyster 800 is the next step in demonstrating this excellent product in wave technology.”
Dr Stephen Wyatt, who is head of technology acceleration at the Carbon Trust, said the UK had the potential to capture nearly a quarter of the global marine energy market.
“Our new report launched this week shows that marine energy has a bright future and is one of the UK’s most exciting green growth sectors and one where the UK has a real lead,” he said. “Wave and tidal stream could provide a fifth of our electricity needs and be a major ‘made in Britain’ success.”
Conservation organisation WWF Scotland described the new technology as a “major shot in the arm” for the Scottish Government’s ambition of sourcing all energy from renewable sources by 2020.
WWF Scotland director Dr Richard Dixon said, “Every advance in efficiency of renewable devices such as this brings Scotland another step closer to being able to full exploit the enormous renewable resource around our coastline.
“With careful planning we can harness Scotland’s wave and tidal energy to help cut our climate emissions while safeguarding the nation’s tremendous marine environment.”