AW-Energy and Queens University Belfast are set to collaborate in developing a more cost-efficient and re-deployable, towable basement for the WaveRoller® device.
The half-a-year collaboration entails tank tests of the WaveRoller® and its re-deployable basement. The project began July 15, 2017 and ends January 15, 2018. The collaboration is expected to yield favorable results, as Queens University of Belfast has both knowledge of the industry as well as state-of-the-art testing facilities.
– Queens University Belfast have built up a lot of experience tank testing near shore wave energy converters and plenty of research into nearshore wave energy converters has been conducted by the team at Belfast, says CTO of AW-Energy Christopher Ridgewell.
The international cooperation benefits both parties, as Queen’s University will have the chance to work with a company that has successfully deployed, tested and delivered electricity using a nearshore wave energy converter technology.
– We are delighted to be using our knowledge of wave power technology acquired over the past 40 years to support AW Energy in their R&D. The collaboration will utilize our facilities which were purpose-built for the development of wave energy in the nearshore environment, comments Trevor Whittaker, Professor of Coastal Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast.
The project is hoped to be the first step in a series of collaborations with Queen’s University to develop the WaveRoller® device further.
– We’re very excited to get started and have loads of ideas for the future, Ridgewell states.
MaRINET2 and Ocean Energy Europe
The project is implemented in connection to Ocean Energy Europe’s MaRINET2 program.
Ocean Energy Europe is the largest network of ocean energy professionals in the world. 115 organizations, including Europe’s leading utilities, industrialists and research institutes, trust Ocean Energy Europe to represent the interests of Europe’s ocean energy sector.
MaRINET2, the Marine Renewables Infrastructure Network, is composed of 39 organizations who collaborate to progress offshore renewable energy technologies in Europe. It aims to accelerate the development of wave, tidal and offshore wind energy technologies and infrastructure by opening access to 57 test facilities across 13 European countries.
The project is now in its second iteration, and it is supported by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme.
Led by MaREI, the Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy Ireland at University College Cork, the project provides companies, entrepreneurs, start-ups and researchers with fully-funded access to marine energy experts and the world’s leading offshore energy test facilities. The project will also progress the standardization of testing in the ocean energy sector.
More information:
https://www.oceanenergy-europe.eu/en/eu-projects/current-projects/marinet2
Picture: Queen’s University Belfast
