Marine energy company Aquamarine Power has shared that its Oyster wave energy converter produced and exported electricity to the grid at the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) near Newcastle, for the first time.
The output from a single pumping cylinder delivered over 170kW of electricity, proving that a full scale device, with two pumping cylinders, will deliver well in excess of the modeled output of 350kW, according to the company.
Testing commenced at NaREC in March this year and will continue until the end of April. Aquamarine is optimising the system settings, testing different components in terms of performance and fatigue and obtaining operational experience.
The test rig is driven by a hydraulic power pack hired from Pelamis Wave Power. The hydraulic rams drive the Oyster cylinder to produce high pressure water which is fed into a Pelton wheel that is connected to a generator to produce electricity.
Installation of the full scale machine at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney is scheduled for this summer.
Read more: Aquamarine Power, Oyster, NaREC, EMEC
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