META starts collecting metocean data at one of its tidal test sites

META, Wales’s national marine energy test facility, has recently deployed one of its Sofar Spotter wave buoys at Criterion Jetty tidal test site in Pembroke Dock.

The deployment marks the first ever use of this technology at the site, and will help the Marine Energy Test Area (META) team and its clients better understand metaocean conditions there.

The wave buoy, which can collect and transmit wave, wind, sea surface temperature and barometric pressure data in real-time, will remain at the site for six months.

Although this particular site is considered relatively benign, it is important to validate this with accurate measurements so that technology developers and researchers planning to use the sites can best design their deployments and experiments.

The recent deployment highlights META’s commitment to expanding its data collection capabilities, and there is an additional wave buoy ready to be deployed at another site.

Anyone interested in learning about the data collected at Criterion Jetty or at one of META’s other quayside or open water sites is encouraged to get in touch, the test center said.

The team already has a large catalogue of data for the sites and is always collecting more, all of which can be shared with interested parties on request.

The Criterion Jetty site is one of five quayside sites run by META, providing an easy access, low risk area for testing marine energy equipment. Sites have been identified to cover a range of water depths and sea conditions.

META is the only pre-consented, pre-commercial test facility of its kind in Wales.

Funded through the Swansea Bay City Deal and a keystone partner of the Pembroke Dock Marine Project, META offers testing in real sea conditions for wave, tidal and floating offshore wind (FLOW) technology in the Milford Haven Waterway, alongside world class port, engineering and manufacturing facilities.

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