Oyster proves to be a pearl in wave energy

Published on Sunday 26 April 2009 21:45

WAVE energy company Aquamarine today hailed the "birth of an industry" after announcing that its Oyster device pumped electricity into the national grid for the first time.

Edinburgh-based Aquamarine – half of which is owned by Scottish & Southern Energy (SSE) – said that on-shore tests carried out near Newcastle had proved that the Oyster wave energy device can deliver electricity on a commercial scale.

A full-scale test rig at the New and Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) produced more than 150 kilowatts of electricity from one of its pumping cylinders.

Aquamarine said the test proved that a full-scale device would be able to produce more than the previously predicted 350kW of power.

Testing at Narec will continue until the end of the month before a full-scale machine is installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney during the summer.

Aquamarine expects to make Oyster available commercially by 2014, with the devices designed to work in arrays generating 100 megawatts of power.

The company already has an agreement with Airtricity, the renewable energy division of SSE, to develop sites capable of hosting 1,000MW of marine energy by 2020 suitable for deployment of Oyster.

Commenting on today's announcement, Martin McAdam, Aquamarine's chief executive, said: "Oyster is revolutionary in its field and what we are seeing is total proof that it can deliver commercially-viable electricity.

"The successful production of power is a testament to all involved in the renewable energy industry. Making this happen involved an array of companies and partners including Frazer Nash who designed the rig, Howco which built it, Pelamis which hired out one of its hydraulic power packs and Narec, which hosted the test.

"If the UK or Scotland wants a marine industry, we have proven that the companies and people are there to deliver it. This is the birth of an industry."

Earlier this month, Aquamarine revealed plans to scrap the development of Neptune, its tidal power device, in favour of pumping money into Oyster.

Aquamarine was founded in 2005 by marine energy developer Allan Thomson and Professor Trevor Whittaker, head of the wave power research group at Queen's University Belfast, and merged with SSE's Renewable Technology Ventures subsidiary in October 2007.

McAdam had previously described Oyster as "a big, dumb machine", adding that the device's strength was in its simplicity, with little in the way of technology to break under the water. He said that Oyster was "very unsophisticated" in terms of what goes into the water, with a big floating hinge, two hydraulic water pistons and four valves – leaving little to be damaged.