Wave of the future

Researchers at Queen's University Belfast and Aquamarine Power, a marine energy company, have joined forces on a new five-year research partnership to develop a hydro-electric wave power converter.

Already their existing partnership has resulted in the creation of the company's Oyster wave power device, which is designed to capture the energy found in amplified surge forces in nearshore waves.

The first prototype of Oyster, a hydro-electric wave power converter, is to be launched at sea for the first time this summer at the European Marine Energy Centre off the coast of Orkney.

The latest five-year deal will see Aquamarine work alongside the Environmental Engineering Research Centre at Queen's. The team from Aquamarine will model several devices in the state-of-the-art wave tanks in the university's Civil Engineering Department and at the Marine Biology Centre at Portaferry.

Led by Prof Trevor Whittaker from the Queen's School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering, the team will monitor loading, survivability and how the devices interact with each other to guarantee continuous power output in all sea states.