Technology developed by School researchers will power Scottish wave energy project
Mocean won £3.3million in funding from Scottish Government-funded Wave Energy Scotland (WES) earlier this year, to develop and build a half-scale prototype of its Blue Horizon wave machine. The prototype will be deployed in real sea conditions off Orkney next year.
Mocean selected the School’s C-GEN technology to provide the power take-off (PTO) system for its utility-scale demonstrator.
C-GEN technology
C-GEN was first developed in 2005 by Professor Mueller in the Institute for Energy Systems, with funding from Scottish Enterprise.
C-GEN is a novel direct-drive generator which promises efficiency savings in a wide range of wave conditions. The School is also currently engaged with WES in a separate project to develop and demonstrate the technology.
The two teams will now build a test rig, which will be tested at a specialist test facility in Rosyth.
Collaborative benefits
Mocean Energy managing director Cameron McNatt, who studied for his PhD in our Institute for Energy Systems, said: “C-GEN is a good match for us because it delivers high efficiencies in the right range of speeds. Our test programme will ensure we optimise the performance of both technologies.”
The School’s Professor Markus Mueller added: “The integration of the C-GEN generator into Mocean’s wave energy device is an exciting development, pushing forward the benefits of the modular direct-drive generator from marine test rig to marine environment operation.
“This programme will allow us to industrialise the design and manufacture of C-GEN for marine renewable applications and demonstrate C-GEN in a real environment, at a relevant scale and under realistic load profiles.”
Sources