CorPower Ocean has successfully installed its half-scale C3 wave energy converter (WEC) at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland.
The C3 point absorber was installed at EMEC’s Scapa Flow scale test site in collaboration with local marine contractor Green Marine (UK) Ltd. The device was towed to site and the surface operated install sequence was successfully performed from the Green Isle multicat vessel. The C3 WEC was connected to a floating microgrid unit provided by EMEC.
The microgrid has been designed to allow the C3 device to behave as if it were grid connected by providing a stable voltage and frequency reference, simulating the impedance of a typical grid connection, absorbing power from the device under test and providing power to auxiliary systems.
With the C3’s performance already proven in grid connected configuration during a dry testing campaign in Stockholm, this ocean deployment is looking to prove off-grid operations to address market segments such as islands, offshore installations or remote coastal locations around the world.
CorPower’s product development follows the structured five-stage verification process of Wave Energy Scotland (WES) and ETIP Ocean involving step-wise validation of survivability, performance, reliability and economics. The Stage 3 demonstration is funded by WES, the Swedish Energy Agency and InnoEnergy, with the testing at EMEC also supported by Interreg NWE FORESEA project.
The Stage 3 programme demonstration is supported by best practice from EMEC in Orkney, alongside experience from offshore power generation company Iberdrola Engineering and EDP, the University of Edinburgh and WavEC Offshore Renewables’ expertise in cost and performance modelling.
