Langlee Wave Power new mooring system announcement

Langlee announces a new design for the mooring of arrays of their WEC devices that follows their declared “simple design – easy maintenance” strategy. They indicate it to be based on technology and design currently used in fish farming.

Have not seen any further detail yet, but I think this could be an interesting development.

Also of interest the fact that the announcement was made at the Latin America Marine energy conference in Santiago (Chile). Sounds like the conference was well attended by some of the bigger players in the wave energy conversion sector. Reasonable to expect some important developments occurring in Chile and some other Latin American countries in the very near future

Extracts from Langlee Wave Power news release:

Norwegian renewable energy firm Langlee Wave Power has developed a new mooring system based on proven fish farm technology to drive down supply chain costs.

The mooring system is set to deliver efficiency savings for Langlee’s 50 kW E1 Wave Energy Converter and allow easy installation of a linked array of multiple units which can provide several megawatts of power.

[…] Fish farming has a 30 year track record with similar components that we can adapt for wave energy, but one fifth of the costs compared to the oil and gas sector. The mooring system can be easily installed, leaving an array to be filled with the required number of E1 units which are connected by four mooring lines.

[… further benefits include easier/cheaper maintenance procedures as …] we can simply de-ballast the hull, bringing the whole system to the surface where it can be maintained on a barge without disconnecting the cable or mooring lines. This delivers further cost savings to other wave technologies by eliminating the need to tow to shore or use divers or remotely operated vehicles.”

Reference: Langlee Wave Power

Ocean Power Magazine » New investment to focus on finding innovative and cost-effective ways to install and maintain large-scale offshore devices

New investment to focus on finding innovative and cost-effective ways to install and maintain large-scale offshore devices

The Carbon Trust is to support two cutting edge marine energy devices in a bid to accelerate the commercial development of wave and tidal energy in the UK. Projects to be supported through the Marine Energy Accelerator with Pelamis Wave Power and Marine Current Turbines will focus on installation and maintenance which currently account for up to 50% of the project costs of wave and tidal energy and could delay more widespread deployment if not reduced.

Reliably moving a 180 metre Pelamis electricity-generating “sea snake” onto a mooring many kilometres offshore is a task that highlights the challenges of making marine energy a commercially viable method of generating renewable energy. The Carbon Trust and Pelamis Wave Power are investigating an innovative remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that will assist with manoeuvring these giant machines into position. They will also integrate remote control technology into existing systems which will enable deployment in rougher seas. These developments promise to significantly reduce vessel and equipment requirements and make installation and maintenance quicker, cheaper and safer, thereby reducing the overall cost of the energy generated.

 

Alongside work with Pelamis Wave Power, the Carbon Trust is supporting a project with Marine Current Turbines to develop an innovative way to deploy its pioneering SeaGen tidal energy system. The new method will involve a remotely operated subsea drilling platform which will install foundation piles in advance of the main turbine support structure being deployed in a single unit. This would enable smaller and less expensive support vessels to be used for the offshore works, reducing the costs of turbine installation.

Carbon Trust is providing £250,000 for the Pelamis project and a further £150,000 for a feasibility study on the MCT foundations technology. The MCT technology is likely to be tested in a disused quarry, and if it performs as expected will be used in SeaGen’s next deployment off Anglesey where the company is working with RWE npower renewables to deploy a 10MW tidal farm, using seven SeaGens.

These two projects form part of the wider Carbon Trust’s Marine Energy Accelerator programme, which brings together device developers, component technology manufacturers, engineering consultants and academic research groups to accelerate cost reduction in the industry.

Mark Williamson, Director of Innovations at the Carbon Trust, said:

“Innovation in the deployment and maintenance of wave and tidal devices will be critical in cutting the cost of marine energy and unlocking the potential of this fantastic renewable energy resource. Our analysis shows that the UK is already leading the world in wave energy. If we can bring down the costs of deploying this technology, we will be able to generate marine energy on a scale that will help meet our 2020 renewable target and deliver significant economic value as well.”

Energy from wave and tidal power could provide up to 20% of the UK’s current electricity and has the potential to cut carbon dioxide by tens of millions of tonnes. Recent analysis, launched at the start of the Carbon Trust’s Clean Tech Revolution campaign, to make Britain a global hub of low carbon innovation, found that 25% of the world’s wave technologies are already being developed in the UK. The analysis also showed that Britain could be the ‘natural owner’ of the global wave power market, generating revenues worth £2 billion per year by 2050 and up to 16,000 direct jobs.

Beth Dickens of Pelamis Wave Power said:

“This project will allow more machines to be installed more often and more cheaply as we will not be as reliant on good weather conditions and specialist boats for the operation. We have had a successful working relationship with the Carbon Trust for a long time, so they were a natural port of call for help in developing this technology which will help speed the deployment of our wave power devices.”

Martin Wright, Managing Director of Marine Current Turbines, said:

“The Carbon Trust’s support is highly valuable to Marine Current Turbines and will help us to build upon our success with our first SeaGen commercial tidal turbine project in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough which is generating power into the local grid.

“Their participation in this project has enabled us to look at how we can install farms of our SeaGen tidal energy systems cheaper and more efficiently in the future. The Carbon Trust’s part-funding of the project underlines the commercial potential that exists for MCT’s pioneering tidal energy technology to be deployed in UK waters as well as overseas.”

via Ocean Power Magazine » New investment to focus on finding innovative and cost-effective ways to install and maintain large-scale offshore devices.

South Western Mooring Test Facility (SWMTF) buoy launched – Featured news, University of Exeter

Launch powers wave energy research

The ambition for Cornwall to become a world leading centre for wave energy has moved a step closer to reality with the launch of a two tonne (2000kg) buoy off the coast of Falmouth.

Developed by a team at the University of Exeter, the South Western Mooring Test Facility (SWMTF) buoy is a world first.

It will gather detailed information to help inform the future design and development of moorings for marine energy devices.

It will complement the South West RDA’s (Regional Development Agency) Wave Hub project, which will create the world’s largest wave energy farm off the north coast of Cornwall. It also supports wider ambitions to make the South West a global centre of excellence for marine renewables.

The SWMTF is the latest development from PRIMaRE (the Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy), a joint £15 million institute for research into harnessing the energy from the sea bringing together the technology and marine expertise of the Universities of Exeter and Plymouth.

Led by Dr Lars Johanning, the PRIMaRE mooring research group at the University of Exeter successfully developed the £305,000 SWMTF with capital investment from the ERDF Convergence programme matched with funds from the South West RDA. The research team is part of the University of Exeter’s Camborne School of Mines, based on the Cornwall Campus.

The SWMTF buoy has been designed with unique features so it can obtain very detailed data in actual sea conditions to show how moored structures respond to changes in wind, wave, current and tide. Using this information, developers will be able to model and test mooring designs and components for their marine energy devices as they convert wave movement into energy. The SWMTF will also provide data for a wide range of other marine devices.

The SWMTF buoy has a simple, circular design, with specialised sensors and other instruments built into its structure, enabling it to record data to a high degree of accuracy and allow real time data communication to shore. It has taken a year to develop the buoy and its instruments. Most of the components were manufactured by companies in the South West, many of which are in Cornwall.

Dr Lars Johanning of the University of Exeter said: “This is a major milestone in PRIMaRE’s research and we are excited about the potential this might have for the development of the Wave Hub project. It has been a huge challenge to build something that can function in the unpredictable environment of the open sea. This would not have been achieved without the design effort provided by the PRIMaRE project engineers Dave Parish and Thomas Clifford, and the many companies who have risen to the challenge to manufacture the buoy and its instruments. We look forward to announcing the results of our tests after the first set of sea trials.”

Nick Harrington, head of marine energy at the South West RDA, said: “We are investing £7.3 million in PRIMaRE to create a world-class marine renewables research base as part of our drive towards a low-carbon economy in the South West, and this buoy will help technology developers design safe but cost-effective moorings. Our groundbreaking Wave Hub project which is on course for construction next year will further cement our region’s reputation for being at the cutting edge of renewable energy development.”

Carleen Kelemen, Director of the Convergence Partnership Office for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, said: “We all face the momentous challenge of global climate change. Together with the immediate carbon and cost savings for us all in energy efficiency, the development of renewables and new low carbon technologies and business solutions are vital if we are to make the most of new and emerging market opportunities that climate change brings.

“This exciting project in helping establish key baseline data in a very challenging marine environment – with ERDF Convergence backing – is a vital step in building the economic capability of Cornwall to be one of the places to do low-carbon business.”

Now that the buoy has been launched, the team will conduct the first tests, within the secure location of Falmouth Harbour. The buoy will then be moved to its mooring position in Falmouth Bay. Once moored at this location, data will be transmitted in real time to a shore station for analysis. A surveillance camera will transmit images to the PRIMaRE web page, allowing the team to continually monitor activities around the buoy.

The SWMTF buoy also has the potential to support other offshore industries, including oil and gas or floating wind installations, in the design of mooring systems. Discussions are already underway with instrumentation developers to develop specific underwater communication systems. In addition the development of the SWMTF buoy has helped secure funding for a collaborative European FP7-CORES (Components for Ocean Renewable Energy Systems) programme, taking the University of Exeter to the forefront of European wave energy converter research.

PRIMaRE will also play a strategic role in the Environmental and Sustainable Institute (ESI), which the University of Exeter aims to develop at the Cornwall Campus.

via Featured news – University of Exeter.