News this week

Global Marine’s Cable Ship Sovereign returned to the Fall of Warness last week, with EMEC’s Neil Kermode on board to oversee the final cable works (see news story). The picture above shows one of the new cable ends being re-laid on the seabed after being spliced to one of our existing subsea cables. The new cable ends (which will enable remote cable testing) were purpose built for EMEC by J+S (see news story).

EMEC was delighted to welcome Neil Morgan, Head of Energy for The Technology Strategy Board (TSB) to visit EMEC and meet several local organisations active in the renewables field earlier this month. The TSB is an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB), established by the UK Government in 2007 and sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The role of the TSB is to promote, support and invest in technology research, development and commercialisation. They advise Government on how to remove barriers to innovation and accelerate the exploitation of new technologies. A great opportunity to demonstrate the level of renewables activity in Orkney as a springboard for future developments.

On 6 September, we were invited to take part in the Orkney International Science Festival – Eileen Linklater gave a presentation on EMEC’s recent work alongside representatives from Aquamarine Power, Pelamis Wave Power and Scotrenewables. It was a popular event in the programme, with well over 100 people squeezing into the King St Hall in Kirkwall to hear the latest on marine renewables.

UK Trade and Investment brought Chinese companies Sinovel Wind Group and Huaneng Renewables to Orkney recently to learn about marine renewables and EMEC’s work. We were also visited by a German Documentary film crew, preparing a series about the German voyager and adventurer Arved Fuchs. With his wooden ship, the 70-year-old Dagmar Aaen, he travelled from Greenland via Nova Scotia Ireland and Scotland studying the ecological condition of the oceans and global warming, stopping off in Stromness to visit EMEC.

As ever, EMEC staff continue to contribute to national strategy groups – this month Neil Kermode has taken part in the Crown Estate’s Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Delivery Group, and the Renewables Energy Association’s Ocean Energy Group; whilst Jenny Norris attend the Scottish Government’s Marine Energy Spatial Planning Research subgroup.