Mocean Energy
Mocean Energy is an Edinburgh-based wave energy developer.
Blue X demo: EMEC Scapa Flow test site, 2021
Mocean deployed its scale prototype wave energy converter, the Blue X, at EMEC’s Scapa Flow test site from June to November 2021. The Blue X is 20-metre long and weighs 38-tonnes. It is a floating hinged raft with a unique geometry designed to improve performance and increase survivability by diving through the largest waves. It was fabricated at Fife fabricators AJS Production.
It completed 154 days at sea, delivering steady outputs of up to 5 kW and safe instantaneous peaks of 30 kW, and operating in sea states up to 2.3 meters maximum wave height [Hs max]. The deployment and demonstration was funded by Wave Energy Scotland and supported by Interreg North-West Europe’s Ocean DEMO project.
Mocean Energy’s Managing Director Cameron McNatt said:
“This has been an immensely valuable period where we have been able to understand how our machine operates in real sea conditions and gain practical experience in operations including towing, installation, removal, and access at sea. We’ve been able to unmoor, tow and moor the machine multiple times, trial the use of solar panels on deck, send commands from shore, test power production and compare our results against our numerical predictions.
“This has given us tremendous confidence in our design – both in its ability to capture wave energy effectively, and also the way in which it dives below the biggest waves, enabling it to shed the heaviest loads.
“Of course, we have been able to rely on the expertise of a number of partners and subcontractors and would like to thank Wave Energy Scotland, EMEC, Blackfish, Leask Marine, the University of Edinburgh and Supply Design, plus many other individuals and companies who have helped us on our way.”
“EMEC’s Scapa Flow wave energy test site is a really great site for starter testing. We’re getting about one weather system a month when we’re generating some data and we’re also getting to prove a lot of our operations and verify the performance of the machine.” – Cameron McNatt
Blue X demo: Orkney east coast, 2023-24
Following tests at EMEC’s scale test site, Mocean deployed the Blue X for further demonstrations off the east coast of Orkney in March 2023. The £2 million Renewables for Subsea Power (RSP) project connects the Blue X wave energy converter with a Halo underwater battery developed by Aberdeen intelligent energy management specialists Verlume. The demonstrator project will provide low carbon power and communication to infrastructure including Baker Hughes’ subsea controls equipment and a resident underwater autonomous vehicle provided by Transmark Subsea.
EMEC supplied instrumentation to measure the speed and direction of currents during the deployment, whilst Wave Energy Scotland has provided £160,000 to support the integration of the umbilical into the wave energy converter.
The project completed over 12 months testing off the east coast of Orkney, returning to shore in April 2024.
Blue Horizon 250 demo: EMEC Billia Croo test site, ~2025
In September 2023, Mocean Energy secured over £3 million EU funding to develop and deploy a 250 kW wave machine at EMEC’s Billia Croo wave test site in Orkney. The large-scale wave energy device – named Blue Horizon 250 – will be manufactured in Scotland and is due to be deployed at a grid-connected berth at Billia Croo in 2026.
The Mocean team provided an in-depth overview of their technology development and approach to commercialisation in an OREF presentation in November 2023. It’s well worth a watch:
A final round of tank testing was completed in mid-February 2025. The tests aimed to validate the performance and design assumptions under controlled conditions. The results will be used to refine the design ahead of full-scale manufacturing and deployment.
News
- March 2025: Blue Horizon Project: Advancing design, testing and deployment plans
- April 2024: Mocean Energy wave energy converter back to shore after 12-month offshore testing
- March 2024: Wave power for subsea equipment project finishes 12-month-long test program
- September 2023: Mocean Energy secures EuropeWave funding for wave energy demo at EMEC
- August 2023: Test programme success and extension secured
- March 2023: Wave power and subsea storage project deployed in Orkney
- November 2021: Mocean Energy Blue X completes sea trials at EMEC
- June 2021: Mocean Energy Blue X wave machine starts sea trials at EMEC
- April 2021: Mocean Energy unveils wave energy prototype
- January 2021: Mocean Energy edges closer to EMEC deployment
- November 2020: Ocean DEMO awards support to 12 developers for 3rd call
- August 2020: Mocean Energy Decommissioning Programme
- January 2019: Two Scots firms secure £7.7m funding to test at EMEC
