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EMEC: 2016 in review

Well what a year it has been!

It all kicked off for us back in February when the International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE) was hosted in the UK for the first time. We began the week by welcoming marine energy developers from around the globe to EMEC as part of a marine renewables day trip to Orkney. The week continued with a multitude of meetings, discussions and announcements, summed up by our managing director Neil here. The week culminated in us hosting our third International WaTERS get together – but more on that later…

Delegates arrive in Orkney for the ICOE marine renewables day trip (Credit Colin Keldie)

Delegates arrive in Orkney for the ICOE marine renewables day trip (Credit Colin Keldie)

 

Developer news:

EMEC alumni

It’s been quite the year for our developer alumni, with Atlantis Resources commencing the year with drive train testing at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, and finishing the year with the deployment of the first 1.5MW tidal turbines at the MeyGen site just across the Pentland Firth off Caithness. The first machines in were also from an EMEC alumni, Andritz Hydro Hammerfest, with full power generated on one machine only days ago.

Hot on the heels of that deployment, our longest standing client OpenHydro installed a 16m 2MW turbine in the Bay of Fundy (a scaled-up version of the 6m turbines they have been testing at EMEC since 2007). Seeing these technologies generate electricity into the grid in their respective locations is fantastic and is tangible progress for the tidal energy industry. Read more about their progress in Eileen’s latest blog: The class of 2016.

The class of 2016: Orkney testing and demonstration

Back in Orkney we were delighted to watch Scotrenewables’ 550-tonne SR2000 come into Kirkwall Bay in June, having been towed up the West Coast of Scotland by Scotmarine’s Orcadia II. The world’s most powerful floating tidal turbine, the 2MW device was deployed on its pre-installed modular anchoring system at EMEC’s Fall of Warness test site in October – the culmination of years of hard work from the Orkney-based Scotrenewables team. Time for a break you might think, but as well as progressing with their testing programme for the SR2000, the team are also engaged in a €10m Horizon 2020 project – FloTEC – to develop a SR2000 Mark II device.

Another busy bee in the tidal arena is SME – Sustainable Marine Energy – who moved their operational base to Orkney this year. In June, the company successfully installed four subsea drilled rock anchors at its Fall of Warness test berth using its innovative robot drill – a potential game-changing system for the tidal energy industry. Following sea trials in the Solent in 2015, their first PLAT-O system, which hosts two SCHOTTEL Instream Turbines (SIT), underwent wet testing off Hatston Pier over the summer and is due to be deployed on site in 2017.

New kids on the block

As well as the old-timers mentioned above, we’ve been working closely with some newer technology developers this year, assisting them in readying their technologies for deployment at EMEC and beyond.

In February, Swedish-based CorPower signed up to test their half-scale wave energy converter (WEC) at EMEC’s Scapa Flow scale test site in 2017 following dry rig testing of the prototype system in Stockholm. Just last week, we were treated to a tour of the test rig and buoy whilst visiting Stockholm as part of the kick-off meeting for the €4m Horizon 2020 funded WaveBoost project – a three-year innovation programme targeting significant improvements in the reliability and performance of WECs by using pneumatic components in combination with advanced control technology.

Flemish wave energy developer Laminaria also launched the LAMWEC project, joining forces with EMEC, Innosea, Ghent University and TTI Testing to support the development of their novel WEC. The main focus of the project is to prove the survivability of the Laminaria WEC which incorporates an innovative storm protection system.

We’re also working with wave energy developers Quoceant, Albatern and Oscilla, verifying their tests as they work through the Wave Energy Scotland stage-gated development programme. EMEC has long been an accredited test laboratory at sea, but our move into providing verification services out with EMEC’s own sites brought us to the ‘sea in the lab’, both here in Scotland at the Flowave Test Tank in Edinburgh, and over the Atlantic, to Seattle in the USA.

On the tidal side, Tocardo Tidal Power have signed up to demonstrate a 20 year pre-commercial array at EMEC with installation of eight T2 turbines scheduled to begin in 2017. Adding to that, the European Commission awarded just over €3.9 million under the Fast Track to Innovation scheme to two new projects looking to demonstrate devices in Orkney waters: InToTidal (a Tocardo led project) and Ocean 2G (led by Spanish Magallanes).

FORESEA: Getting metal wet

FORESEA_LOGO_RGB-HI QUALITY LOGO FOR PRINT 448

One of the biggest announcements for us this year was the launch of FORESEA – a new €11m European programme to support open sea testing for ocean energy. Led by EMEC, the FORESEA (Funding Ocean Renewable Energy through Strategic European Action) project provides funding support to ocean energy technology developers to access Europe’s world-leading ocean energy test facilities: EMEC (Orkney Islands, UK); SmartBay (Galway, Ireland); SEM-REV (Nantes, France); and the Tidal Testing Centre (Den Oever, Netherlands). The test centres are supported by European industry group Ocean Energy Europe, based in Brussels.

The first call for applications was closed in September, with ten successful ocean energy developers announced in November (eight of which are planning to test at EMEC). The second call for applications is now open, with a webinar scheduled to take place on 18th January 2017 to provide participants with feedback from the first call, information on the 2nd call, and an opportunity to put their questions to the FORESEA team.
 

Project progress: Innovation and knowledge sharing

As well as device development and testing, a lot of work has taken place this year to progress wider innovation, learning and knowledge sharing throughout the industry. Some examples:

  • RiaSoR – Reliability in a Sea of Risk: At the beginning of 2016, EMEC, ORE Catapult and SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden embarked on the development of improved reliability methodologies for marine energy converters. The project drew to a close in December with an educational workshop aimed at educating engineers on the use of ocean energy focused variance mode and effect analysis methodology to improve reliability in the design of wave and tidal energy devices and test programmes. The guidance documents are available to download here.
  • Whitford – high performance coatings for corrosive environments: We’ve continued working with the UK’s leading coating manufacturer – Whitford Ltd – testing high-performance coatings in the harsh oceanic conditions in Orkney. The project was expanded in November to include the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) based in Nova Scotia to see how Whitford’s innovative marine coatings perform in a different marine environment.
  • Wave Energy Scotland – Orkney knowledge capture: Over the summer, EMEC ran a series of workshops with the Orkney wave energy supply chain to help capture the wealth of knowledge and experience amassed in Orkney through testing wave energy devices in real sea conditions. Results from the study are being used to support and inform the WECs going through Wave Energy Scotland’s development programme.
  • ORCHIDS – addressing cable and electrical infrastructure integrity: EMEC provided project partners Fraunhofer UK and Synaptec with a feasibility study looking at the commercial case for new optical sensing techniques, alongside a technical review of different distributed fibre sensing methods that can operate alongside Synaptec’s unique offering.
  • ICIT – biofouling studies: With field research carried out at EMEC’s wave and tidal energy test sites to identify common fouling organisms found in Orkney waters, this project focused on the development of a knowledge network enabling biofouling experts to work closely with marine energy test sites and technology developers to identify the specific aspects of biofouling that are relevant to the marine renewables industry.
  • FloWave – replicating EMEC in the tank: following a three-year collaboration, and using a 10-year plus data-set from EMEC’s Billia Croo offshore test site, FloWave have replicated the wild ocean environment of Orkney in their state-of-the-art test facility in Edinburgh. The new technique has been trialled and tested by engineering consultants Quoceant, a company with significant experience of testing at Billia Croo.
  • Generating hydrogen from renewables – Orkney’s hydrogen economy: Site development works at Caldale in Eday have progressed well this year, and we eagerly await the delivery and installation of our electrolyser in the new year. Building on the launch of the Surf ‘n’ Turf project in 2015 which will use EMEC’s electrolyser to generate hydrogen from tidal and wind energy, a new project – BIG HIT – was launched to use ‘green’ hydrogen to power transport and heating in Orkney.

 

International WaTERS: supporting the development of a global marine energy industry

We hosted the third International WaTERS (Wave and Tidal Energy Research Sites) workshop at ICOE in February, welcoming our counterparts from nine countries around the globe to Edinburgh. Discussions were focused on key issues identified by participating organisations, namely: environmental monitoring and licencing; marine operations, electrical operations and safety; and funding research programmes, government support and business planning. It was concluded that the network of test sites can play an important role in ensuring common research and demonstration agendas to increase the effectiveness of research programmes and avoid duplication of effort around the world.

International WaTERS workshop delegates, ICOE 2016

International WaTERS workshop delegates, ICOE 2016

Following this, we’ve made a few trips around the globe ourselves to further discussions and collaborations throughout the year. This included meetings in Dublin, Amsterdam, Brussels, Stockholm, Washington DC, Qingdao in China, Singapore, Brasília, Buenos Aires and Valdivia in Chile.

We also welcomed various groups of international visitors to Orkney, including a delegation from the Ocean University of China, and a 16-strong delegation from Kyushu Economic Federation of Japan.
 

Industry recognition: “and the award goes to…”

  • EMEC was named ‘Blue Economy Business of the Year’ at the European Commission’s Blue Economy Business Awards 2016, an accolade that we’re extremely proud of. To receive such high recognition at European level of our efforts and of the importance of marine renewables to Europe’s economy has been an incredibly high point in our year.
  • Our marketing and communications officer, Lisa MacKenzie, won the ‘Communicator Award’ at the Scottish Renewables Young Professionals Green Energy Awards.
  • And we were delighted to be nominated for the Business Green ‘Marine Energy Technology of the Year’ award for our work on setting up ‘green’ hydrogen generation in Orkney. Congratulations to Atlantis, well deserved winners for their progress with the MeyGen project, and to SME who were highly commended for their innovative rock anchor solution.

Before we move on, we’d like to highlight the most deserved award in the renewables sector this year too: Calum Davidson won the ‘Outstanding Contribution’ at the Scottish Renewables Green Energy Awards for his role and influence in the development of renewables throughout the Highlands and Islands. Calum has worked very closely with EMEC over the years; a true champion for marine renewables we are truly grateful for all the effort that he has put in to help EMEC and the wider sector progress to where it is today.
 

Comings and goings at EMEC

There have been a lot of new faces around the office this year, with the additional of seven new members of staff. Andy Shanks and Florence Ungaro joined us in April as our new project managers, working with Elaine Buck in her new role as technical manager. As part of a knowledge transfer partnership between the University of Strathclyde and EMEC, Steven Pyke also joined Elaine’s team to support the development of EMEC’s ocean energy assessment processes.

In July we welcomed Nic Wallet as our project manager for the newly launched FORESEA programme, working alongside Danielle Moodie who has taken on a new role as FORESEA project officer.

Our PA to the executive team, Cath Russell, joined us in August, closely followed by Catrin Sutherland and Rob Ionides: Catrin is working with us in a one-year graduate marketing officer position (supported by Orkney Islands Council’s Economic Development Graduate Placement Scheme); and Rob has joined the operations team as our engineering technician.

Last, but not least, we had the pleasure of hosting Dutch research intern Iris Hoefnagels in the Spring who looked into the role of international collaborations in emerging technologies, exploring the opportunities for co-operation between the Scottish and Dutch marine energy sectors. More on her experience with us here.
 

Final thoughts from Neil

Signing us off for the year, our managing director Neil Kermode would like to say a few words:

“As was said at the start: it has been quite a year! So although we haven’t seen as much activity on our sites as previous years, we have seen so much of the long-haul behind-the-scenes work come to fruition. The hard work and investment that has been directed at fostering innovation around our test centre has begun to spawn all sorts of projects, developments and opportunities.

“This comes at a time when the entire issue of energy and innovation are jointly coming to the top of the agenda across the country. We eagerly look forward to the renaissance being planned for British industry through the long awaited Industrial Strategy, as well as the imminent launch of the Scottish Government’s first holistic energy strategy, and local plans from Orkney Islands Council to build on the county’s world leading position in marine renewables. These are exciting prospects for us to look forward to in 2017.

“However, it is the support of our staff, the local community, the supply chain, and the wider public as well as Government that enables us to operate and succeed. And we are extremely grateful for that continued support and promise to continue delivering on the opportunities we see coming.”
 

We wish you all a Merry Christmas, and look forward to an exciting New Year!

 

EMEC xmas card 2016

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EMEC CLIENTS

Alstom

Alstom

hammerfest

hammerfest

Aquamarine

Aquamarine Power

atlantis

Atlantis Resources Corporation

Nautricity

Nautricity

Naval Group

Naval Group

openhydro

Open Hydro

Home_Orbital-Marine-logo

Orbital Marine

pelamis

pleamis

scottish_power

ScottishPower Renewables

seatricity

Seatricity

Sustainable Marine Energy

Sustainable Marine Energy

voith

Voith Hydro

Wello

Wello Oy

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