Top news, September 17 – 23, 2018

MarineEnergy.biz has compiled the top news from marine energy industry from September 17 – 23, 2018.


Marine energy alliance of joint benefit kicks off in Europe

The EU-backed project whose aim is to progress the maturity level of 40 small and medium-sized companies working in marine energy sector has officially been launched under the name of Marine Energy Alliance (MEA).

The 4-year MEA project is on the go since last week, after the project partners – coming from the Netherlands, UK, France and Ireland – held a ‘very successful’ kick-off meeting.

Namely, uniting the regional experience and capabilities of leading marine energy organizations in Northwest Europe – the project will deliver a suite of integrated technical and commercial services, tailored to the needs of 40 regional companies to progress their combined technical and commercial maturity level.

More information on how the small and medium-sized enterprises working on marine energy concepts can apply for the support program will be made available by the end of the year.


Canada awards C$30 million for 9MW tidal energy scheme

The government of Canada has allocated C$29.8 million to DP Energy company Halagonia Tidal Energy to develop a nine-megawatt tidal power project in Nova Scotia that will combine both floating and submerged turbine technology.

The C$117 million project – set to demonstrate the capabilities for extracting energy in both shallow and deep water – will incorporate five Mk1 Andritz Hydro 1.5 MW sea-bed mounted tidal turbines, and a single SR2-2000 floating turbine by Scotrenewables Tidal Power.

At 9MW deployed at two berths at the Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy (FORCE) facility in the Bay of Fundy under a single project, the scheme will create around 120 jobs, and generate enough renewable energy to power more than 2,500 homes, according to the government of Canada.


PLAT-I tidal power platform settles in Canada’s Grand Passage

Sustainable Marine Energy’s (SME) 280kW floating tidal platform called PLAT-I has been installed in the Bay of Fundy after securing the necessary permits from Nova Scotia authorities.

The platform that features four Schottel Hydro SIT250 turbines has been installed just four days after the Department of Energy and Mines of Nova Scotia issued the permit to local company partnering in the project – Black Rock Tidal Power (BRTP) – to test the device for up to six months.

The project will not be connected to the electricity grid and, as a result, does not require a power purchase agreement, the permit states.


Tidal pioneer floats out to make room for optimized sibling

Scotrenewables Tidal Power has started working on the removal of its record-breaking SR2000 tidal power turbine from the test berth in Scottish waters ahead of site preparations for commercial production model – the SR2 -2000.

The SR2000’s withdrawal from service at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) follows a record-breaking year of testing which saw it generate more than 3GWh of renewable electricity.

The same grid-connected test berth at EMEC’s Fall of Warness test site will welcome Scotrenewables’ optimized 2MW floating tidal turbine most likely in early 2020, following its launch scheduled for the next year.


Multinational wave energy project launches in Canary Islands

The project bringing together companies and organizations from several countries under the joint objective of improving the performance of wave energy technologies has been officially launched in Spain.

The international initiative – backed by Ocean Energy ERA-NET Cofund (OCEANERA-NET COFUND) program – will see the W1 wave energy converter tested and validated in real-sea environment as part of the WEP+ project.

Project partners include Aquatera, Neureus Technologies, Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias (PLOCAN), Centrale-Nantes, Las Palmas Ports, and University of Nantes, who will collaborate to improve and demonstrate the reliability and performance of W1 device under the 18-month initiative, which ends in September 2019.