EMEC to host Marine Power Systems’ wave energy array

The Swansea-based marine energy developer will bring its first commercial scale array demonstration to two berths at EMEC’s Billia Croo wave test site, off the west coast of Orkney, Scotland in 2025-2026.

In a statement, Gareth Stockman, CEO at Marine Power Services said: “We are thrilled to be demonstrating our first pre-commercial array at EMEC. The project represents another significant step forward for the business and our progress towards market readiness.

“This array demonstration will support the ongoing development of our technology and its functionality to ensure that the commercial arrays delivered at increasing scale represent the most robust, reliable and cost-effective devices on the market. The project will also deliver further research and development around manufacturing and the real-world deployment of our technology at commercial scale.”

MPS’s PelaGen wave energy converter (WEC) design enables energy to be harnessed during the heave and surge of a wave, with each device capable of capturing over a megawatt of power.

The PelaGen WECs will be deployed on MPS’s PelaFlex modular floating platform, which is based on a tetrahedral design to provide enhanced stability. According to MPS, the platform has a low overall steel mass with only 10 primary, and four distinct parts.
The sea conditions and grid connection at EMEC’s Billia Croo test site will enable MPS to test its device in seas with some of the highest wave energy potential in Europe while exporting any electricity produced during the demonstration programme into the UK national grid.

“Marine Power Systems’ approach to technology development is rigorous and impressive, and we are delighted to support the next stage of their development with this pre-commercial project,” said Rob Flynn, commercial manager for EMEC. “These are the type of projects which the wave energy sector needs to undertake to show that it can deliver clean renewable energy to the electrical grid and make a significant contribution to net-zero.”