Wave energy company Aquamarine Power has successfully replaced the cylinder module on their Oyster 800 wave machine as their comprehensive summer refit passes the half way mark.
The 23 tonne module was refitted to the 800kW test machine – located at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney – in an operation which took just over two days.
“This is an important waymark on our route to reliable electricity generation,” says company Chief Executive Officer Martin McAdam.
“This new module incorporates a number of significant upgrades to the one it replaces – including new check valves, hoses and control and instrumentation. We have worked closely with suppliers Hunger Hydraulik and Calder Engineering to make it robust enough to withstand the extreme forces it will experience during operation.
“The Oyster concept clearly works – it is the only wave machine to have operated continuously for three winters, and has generated multiple megawatt hours of electrical power. Oyster can withstand 100 per cent of all sea states, and the goal now is to generate electricity reliably. This is a challenge for the whole industry, and it is only through full-scale testing can we find out what works, what doesn’t and the evolutionary changes we need to make,” McAdam concludes.