Mocean Energy’s wave energy converter back to shore after 12-month offshore testing

Mocean Energy’s Blue X wave energy converter and Verlume’s Halo underwater battery storage system have returned to shore after over 12 months of testing at sea off Orkney as part of the Renewables for Subsea Power (RSP) project that combines wave energy with subsea storage to power subsea equipment.

This £2 million RSP project, which connected the Blue X wave energy converter with Verlume’s Halo underwater battery storage system, completed a 12-month test program at sea at the beginning of March, with the goal of reaching the finish line this spring.

The next steps include removing all equipment from the marine site, ahead of inspection and clean down onshore in Orkney, and moving to Verlume’s operations facility in Dyce, Aberdeen.

According to Mocean Energy, the project has given RSP’s participants invaluable data and growing confidence in the system’s ability to deliver reliable low-carbon power and communications to subsea assets and long-term underwater vehicle residency.

“We are exploring the next steps both here in the UK and overseas to further demonstrate how this combination of ocean technologies can enable reliable low carbon power and communications to subsea architecture in a live environment,” the company said.

Energy majors TotalEnergies and Shell joined Mocean Energy and Verlume in the pan-industry initiative recently, alongside the Thai national oil company PTTEP, Serica Energy, Harbour Energy, Baker Hughes, Transmark Subsea, and the Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC).