In a carefully planned operation, the 194-tonne full scale device was lowered onto its seabed subframe and bolted in place. The next step will be to connect the Oyster to sub-sea pipelines which will deliver high pressure fresh water to an onshore turbine ahead of grid connection and sea trials later this year.
Martin McAdam, Chief Executive Officer of Aquamarine Power, commented: “Getting Oyster into the water and connected to the seabed was always going to be the most difficult step and its completion is a real credit to everyone who has worked hard on planning and executing this major engineering feat on schedule and without any complications.
Oyster is designed to capture the energy found in nearshore waves up to depths of 10 to 12 metres, and its simplicity (there are minimal moving parts and all electrical components are onshore), makes it robust enough to withstand the rigours of Scotland’s harsh seas. Aquamarine Power estimates that a commercial farm of just 20 of these devices (10 MW) could provide enough clean renewable energy for a town of 6,500 homes.
“No one has deployed a nearshore wave device before so we had to plan every detail of the operation. We have a fantastic and experienced offshore team at Aquamarine Power but we could not have done this on our own, in total we have about 15 different companies working on this project, together with our main contractor Fugro Seacore. They have all done a great job,” said McAdam. “Generating electricity, however, will be the ultimate test, and we are confident we will deliver power to the national grid by the end of the year, ” he added.
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