Technicians from IHCantabria, Demoliciones Submarinas, and UnderOceans have jointly inspected the anchorage systems of the buoys installed at the marine energy test site Bimep.
The underwater exploration has set a new record for IHCantabria when it comes to the inspection of anchorage systems linked to marine energies, since it exceeded 95 meters of depth, the research institution for marine renewables IHCantabria said.
The IHCantabria technicians used a remotely operated vehicle (ROV), equipped with a camcorder, halogen spotlights, depth gauge, positioning system and 4 propellers to inspect the anchorage systems of the various experimental and beacon buoys.
On the part of Demoliciones Submarinas and UnderOceans, the team was composed of 5 deep water diver specialists and a crew that maneuvered a 15-meters long boat.
“In spite of the complicated metocean conditions, due to the persistent wind and waves, the inspection was a success, providing all the required information regarding the state of the anchorage systems and the seabed around the devices,” IHCantabria said.
Bimep is located in Armintza and owned by the Basque government, offering an infrastructure designed to test marine energy devices in the open sea. The test site has recently welcomed its first wave energy device, known as Marmok-A5, which was installed in October 2015 for trials as part of the EU-funded OPERA project.
Late in December, TRIAXYS directional wave buoy was also deployed at Bimep for waves characterization and assessment of the performance characteristics of Marmok-A5 wave energy device.
To remind, IHCantabria and Bimep formed the TRL + consortium to accelerate the development of the marine energy industry early in 2016.