Laminaria’s wave energy converter (WEC) has completed tank testing at the Coastal, Ocean and Sediment Transport (COAST) laboratory at Plymouth University.
Building on initial tank tests in 2016, the latest testing programme has been supported by MaRINET2 which supports marine energy developers in accessing a range of testing facilities.
According to the company, a 1/30 scale model of 200kW WEC, which is being designed as part of the OCEANERA-NET LAMWEC project, was put through its paces and demonstrated survivability in extreme sea states.
LAMWEC’s focus is to prove the survivability of a pre-commercial scale WEC which incorporates Laminaria’s load management mechanism and storm protection system.
During tank tests, the WEC endured the equivalent of significant wave heights of up to 16m, demonstrating that the survival mechanism can reduce loads to a chosen limit during extreme circumstances.
Production of the full-scale Laminaria WEC is now underway and is due to be completed by April in preparation for deployment at EMEC’s Billia Croo wave test site later in 2018.
Laminaria’s CEO, Steven Nauwelaerts , said: “The support from MaRINET2 and OCEANERA-NET have helped us a great deal in de-risking the full-scale deployment due at EMEC this year. With the completion of the latest tank testing we are confident our WEC will be able to handle the challenging wave resource at EMEC and more.”