2007, Year of the Wave

As part of a consortium, SgurrEnergy, a leading independent multi-disciplinary consultancy specialising in renewable energy, has performed a technical due diligence study on the Pelamis wave energy device and associated wave energy farm project in Orkney on behalf of ScottishPower. Developed by Edinburgh based company Ocean Power Delivery, the Pelamis prototype has been tested at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney and at has had periods at sea since early 2004; accumulating in excess of 1000 hours of real sea conditions during these tests.

The due diligence final report assessed the following key areas: survivability and reliability of the device, operation and maintenance, with SgurrEnergy focussing on energy yield issues, review of the device power table, review of the wave resources, energy yield assessment, uncertainties, and review of performance assessment standards and protocols.

In its initial phase, the planned 3.75 MW wave array would consist of five Pelamis', each rated 750kW, with further plans for the wave array to provide important information towards the development of a wave farm of more than 20MW of rated capacity.

The Pelamis is currently under review by ScottishPower with hopes of realising the UK's first large wave farm in the near future. Gregory Dudziak, Senior Renewable Energy Consultant, commented, "It has been very interesting and challenging to perform this due diligence exercise on OPD's Pelamis. The UK has the potential to become the world leader in marine energy, and the planned wave array development at EMEC would pave the way for the marine industry expansion worldwide."

For further information contact Gregory on 0141 433 4666 or gregory.dudziak@sgurrenergy.com

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