Co-funded by the EU Horizon Europe programme and Innovate UK (the UK鈥檚 innovation agency) Wedusea brings together industrial and academic specialists from the UK, Ireland, Germany and Spain.
The Wedusea project plans to install a one-megawatt grid-connected OE35 floating wave energy converter, developed by OceanEnergy, at the European Marine Energy Centre test site in Orkney, Scotland.
The four-year Wedusea project has three phases. The first is the initial design of a device suited to European Marine Energy test site鈥檚 ocean conditions . This will be followed by the demonstration at the site, lasting two years.
The final phase will be commercialisation and dissemination of the technology. OceanEnergy and other consortium companies expect to exploit the results of the project through new innovations, products and services.
The results will also be disseminated to feed both environmental databases and IEC electrotechnical standards.
Professor Tony Lewis, chief technical officer at OceanEnergy, said: 鈥淭his rigorous technical and environmental demonstration will happen over a two-year period in Atlantic wave conditions. We believe this will be transformational for the wave energy industry, with outcomes directly impacting policy, technical standards, public perception and investor confidence.
鈥淲ave energy is the world鈥檚 most valuable and persistent renewable resource. However, it has yet to be fully realised. The project will demonstrate that wave technology is on a cost-reduction trajectory and will thus be a stepping stone to larger commercial array scale-up and further industrialisation.
鈥淲e predict that the natural energy of the world鈥檚 oceans will one day supply much of the grid,鈥� added Lewis.
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