Oyster 2 is a new, next generation 800kW device that the company claims will deliver 250 per cent more power than the original Oyster 1 with only a 50 per cent increase in footprint. Oyster 1 has been successfully undergoing sea trials at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney since November of last year and is connected to the National Grid.
The company will begin deployment of Oyster 2, which consists of three flaps linked to a single onshore 2.4 MW hydro-electric turbine at EMEC in Summer 2011.
In partnership with SSE Renewables, the company has already been successful in the Crown Estate leasing round, securing exclusive rights to develop the 200MW Brough Head wave farm which could provide enough energy to power around 190,000 homes. This joint venture is the first site development within the agreement with SSE Renewables, (formerly Airtricity) to jointly develop up to 1,000MW of marine energy sites by 2020 using Oyster technology.
“Aquamarine Power has made substantial progress over the last 12 months. Our current Oyster device has performed well during sea trials surviving the harshest winter seas off the coast of Orkney and the data we have gathered from it has enabled us to design a much more powerful Oyster 2,” said Martin McAdam, Chief Executive Officer of Aquamarine Power. “The additional fundraising enables us to progress to the next phase – the manufacture and installation of Oyster 2 and we will announce the award of these contracts shortly.
McAdam went on to say: “As an emerging industry, marine energy has a substantial funding requirement and the financial support of investors and the UK and Scottish Governments is paramount to its success. Once again I would like to thank all of our investors, which include Scottish and Southern Energy, Scottish Enterprise, our Norwegian investors and Sigma Capital Group plc for their support, as we surge forward with the development of the technology and the company”.
Earlier this year Aquamarine Power secured an award from the Carbon Trust’s Marine Renewables Proving Fund (MRPF) to support the manufacture of Oyster 2.
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