Wave Site Projects
As you will see in our site description section (wave environment), the environmental diversity at Billia Croo is fairly typical for its location, with no particular sensitivities. Therefore the range of environmental issues which need to be addressed will be typical of the industry as a whole. EMEC obtained funding to proceed with the following projects:
1. Surface Interactions with Wave Devices: High Specification Camera Observations
The objective of this project is to inform wave energy device operators, as well as regulatory and other decision makers, about the frequency and nature of specific interactions between marine mammals and birds, and those parts of devices which are on or above the sea surface. The outcomes should help allay some of the concerns about possible interactions. The project is funded by nPower and will involve placing a dedicated high mangification camera at the existing lookout post on Blackcraig. It is hoped that this investigation will provide a methodology for assessing the effects of the protruding elements of wave devices on marine mammals and birds, using a high resolution camera.
2. Wildlife Displacement: Observations Programme
EMEC has previously received funding (from Highlands and Islands Enterprise) for the development of a programme of land-based observations at the EMEC tidal test site off Eday. For this the Sea Mammal Research Unit (SMRU) Ltd was commissioned to develop a land-based method, together with programming of observations and an analytical approach to the data interpretation that seeks to identify patterns of usage within the affected sea area. Whilst the tidal site observations are ongoing, in this project funded jointly by Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) and nPower, the process and statistical approach to data analysis will be re-assessed and amended to make it appropriate for the very different environment at the wave test site. This project will also operate in combination with the dedicated camera (also funded by nPower) to investigate wildlife interactions visible at the sea surface.
3. Resource Assessment: Monthly Reports
EMEC
continuously collects real time data at Billia Croo covering variables such
as wave and current alongside weather parameters such as wind, precipitation
and temperature from the test sites. EMEC has commissioned ICIT (International
Centre for Island Technology) to undertake routine monthly analysis of
the MetOcean data gathered at Billia Croo. The reports produced are available
to developers deploying at the wave site and will inform in sufficient detail
of the conditions, which will help in device design and assessment.
EMEC works in cooperation
with a range of higher education institutions to investigate various aspects
of the MetOcean resource at our test sites. Recent outputs from this include
two papers (available to download below) which were presented at the 7th
European Wave and Tidal Energy conference (Copyright):
Advances in Wave Resource Estimation: Measurements and Data Processing
(J Cruz, E Mackay and T Martins, 2007)
Wave climate investigation for an array of wave power devices
(V.Venugopal and G.H.Smith, 2007)
By making the data collected at EMEC available for the wider marine renewables
research community, EMEC hopes that the outputs will serve the industry as
a whole. An excellent example of this is the work being undertaken within SUPERGEN-Marine.
Recent papers produced by SUPERGEN-Marine in which EMEC contributed are listed
below:
- Norris,
J. and Bryden, I. (2007). "The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC): Facilities and Resources." Proc ICE Energy Journal, Vol 160, pp. 51-58.
- Smith
G. H., Venugopal V. and Wolfram J. (2006). "Wave period statistics
for real sea waves and wave energy extraction." Proc I Mech E, Part
M, Journal for the Maritime Environment, 220, Special Issue, 1-17.
- Smith,
G. H., Venugopal, V. and Wolfram, J. (2006). "Wave Period Group
Statistics for Real Sea Waves and Wave Energy Extraction." Proc. I Mech.
E. Part M: J. Engineering for the Maritime Environment, Vol. 220, No.3, pp.
99-115(17).
- Venugopal, V. and Smith, G.H. (2007). "The effect of wave period filtering on wave power extraction and device tuning." Ocean Engineering, 34, pp. 1120-1137.
Targeted future research
EMEC is hoping to extend to the wave site those projects already underway
or under development at the tidal test site. This applies to the following
potential projects at Billia Croo:
- Sub-Surface Interactions
- Seabed Ecology
- Acoustic Output from Devices
Note: Where issues are under investigation elsewhere (e.g. COWRIE looking into Electromagnetic Fields) EMEC is keen to avoid duplication of effort.