Broader Research Projects
This page looks at the wider research projects which EMEC is involved in.
1. The Provision of Guidance to inform the Simplification of Marine Renewable Energy Development Application (including Guidance on EIA/AA Procedures)
EMEC and Xodus Aurora were commissioned by Scottish Government to produce a Guide that developed a streamlined consenting process for marine renewable projects in Scotland, and provided detailed information on the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Habitats Regulations Assessment (HRA) processes. This Guide consists of four parts:
- Part One describes a new streamlined single point of access or ‘One Stop Shop’ consenting/licensing process under which all necessary consents/licences for renewable energy projects in Scottish waters are sought and issued.
- Part Two of the Guide is specific to the marine renewable energy industries (wave and tidal). It details the legislation that governs the licensing and deployment of commercial scale wave and tidal energy developments, and explains the documentation that needs to be produced by developers to support their applications.
- Part Three provides an explanation of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA) processes in general, and includes summary discussion of the different stages involved in these processes.
- Part Four is an industry-specific annex, containing information relating to the EIA and HRA processes that pertains specifically to the wave and tidal energy industries.
Once approved, the document will be available from Marine Scotland.
2. Hydrodynamic Modelling
EMEC has commissioned DHI to construct a numerical model of the Orkney Islands using the flexible version of MIKE 21 Flow Model FM.
The model will provide detailed information at specified locations on:
- Water level
- Currents
- Waves
The model mesh has a varying spatial resolution, enabling complex tidal channels and local topographic features that may influence the hydrodynamics to be sufficiently resolved.
The calibrated model is available for use by developers coming to test at EMEC.
An example of the simulated tidal flow pattern at Fall of Warness can be seen in the animation below.
A wave model of the Orkney Islands has also been built, using the MIKE 21 Spectral Waves FM model with focus on the wave conditions at the test sites.
ADCP measurements at Fall of Warness have highlighted the effects of the strong tidal stream on the wind-sea and swell wave climate due to wave-current interaction. This has been illustrated in the animation below.
These studies will be used to calculate the 20 year wave climate at both test sites for developers to use in device design.
3. A review of the potential impacts of wave and tidal energy development on Scotland’s marine environment
The Scottish Government commissioned a team including EMEC and led by Aquatera to undertake a desk-based review of the potential impacts of wave and tidal energy development on Scotland’s marine environment. The key objectives of the study include:
- The identification of the key technical elements associated with marine renewable energy development
- The identification of marine species and habitats which are potentially vulnerable to the development of marine energy in Scotland
- The identification of potential key interactions and priority marine ecological issues arising from the development of marine energy in Scotland
- The provision of recommendations around potential priority issues, including strategic and project level baseline and monitoring studies, adaptive management policies, etc
Once approved, the document will be available from Marine Scotland.
4. Marine Safety Course
This project has developed a course which provides the minimum sea safety certification required for people to work offshore in the marine renewables industry along with demonstration of the safe and efficient deployment and retrieval of a current profiler. This has been a joint project between the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and Department of Maritime Studies in Stromness, Orkney.
Within the bespoke course the first three modules provided are STCW (Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping) and are MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency) approved. These are some of the mandatory courses required for anyone joining a working vessel and are valuable for acquiring sound basic knowledge of safety aboard any vessel. The fourth course module has been split into two sections and developed to familiarise participants with:
- Some basics of tide and current effect, the dangers involved in a vessel with inadequate stability, as well as dangers due to adverse weather conditions.
- An understanding of the responsibilities for Health and Safety along with relevant regulations.
- Basic knowledge of navigation for ascertaining a vessel’s position for deployment and an overview of an associated current profiler deployment.
- A practical session to demonstrate a current profiler marine deployment and retrieval.
For course details contact - Mohan Samant at Orkney College.
5. EQUIMAR
The EquiMar project is funded by the European Commission as part of its 7th Framework programme under the Energy topic (see http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html for more information). It is a collaborative research and development project involving a consortium of 23 partners running for three years and due to end in March 2011.
The aim of EquiMar is to deliver a suite of protocols for the equitable evaluation of marine energy converters (based on either tidal or wave energy). These protocols will harmonise testing and evaluation procedures across the wide variety of devices presently available, with the aim of accelerating adoption though technology matching and improved understanding of the environmental and economic impacts associated with the deployment of arrays of devices. EMEC is specifically involved within the work packages looking at:
- Physical Environmental Specification
- Environmental Impact Assessment
Outputs from the EquiMar project will establish a sound base for future international marine energy standards. EMEC is playing an active role in the amalgamation of this work with relevant standards work being undertaken in the UK.