Wave energy partnership to receive £500,000 investment from Technology Strategy Board
A partnership between Cornwall based wave energy developer Orecon, Peter Brotherhood Ltd - a world leader in the design and manufacture of turbines, Converteam - the UK's largest supplier of electrical systems to the renewable market and Cranfield University, is to receive a £500,000 grant from the Technology Strategy Board to carry out development work on Oscillating Water Column (OWC) technology, used in Orecon's wave energy buoys.
The work to be carried out by the partnership will advance the hydrodynamic modelling of the OWCs and the development of Brotherhood's ‘HydroAir' OWC air turbine - in order to leverage maximum overall system efficiency and reliability of the raw wave energy capture to the delivery of Grid compliant electrical power.
Explaining the Technology Strategy Board's support for the project, Lead Technologist Filomena La Porta said: "The Technology Strategy Board is committed to stimulating the development and deployment of technologies which, while contributing to the UK's climate change and energy security goals, also represent major business opportunities for the UK. We are therefore delighted to support this wave energy project, which brings together world-class expertise from across the UK."
David Crisp, CEO of Orecon said: ‘We are very proud to be working with the other partners on further developing our technology. The knowledge and experience that the partnership brings will enable us to move the OWC technology forward much faster and more effectively to enable us to move into production earlier with an even higher confidence of success."
For further information please contact Sue Wolstenholme at Ashley Public Relations on (01579) 370991.
Editor's Notes
Orecon
Orecon is a wave energy device developer that has patented technology which has addressed the problems encountered by other wave energy devices. The Orecon MRC (Multi Resonant Chambers) wave energy device is the result of 6 years of development and over 20 years of combined coastal and offshore experience. Based in the South-West of the UK and surrounded by over 800 miles of coastline, the company has a real empathy of the demands of the marine environment. Orecon is actively addressing site selection and mitigation of potential environmental impact to ensure responsible engineering, respectful of the marine environment and its users.
A syndicate of international Venture Capitalists including Advent Ventures, Venrock, Wellington Partners and Northzone Ventures have earlier this year invested a total of £12 million in the company. With the investment ORECon will build and deploy a full-scale device, then move on to commercial roll-out of its technology.
Orecon's first wave-to-energy buoy is scheduled to be deployed off the Cornish coast in the summer of 2010.
OWC
OWC is a technology that uses wave motion to compress air through an air turbine to generate electrical power.
Technology Strategy Board
The Technology Strategy Board is a business-led executive non-departmental public body, established by the government. Its mission is to promote and support research into, and development and exploitation of, technology and innovation for the benefit of UK business, in order to increase economic growth and improve the quality of life. It is sponsored by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS). For further information please visit http://www.innovateuk.org/.
Partners
Cranfield - Cranfield University, the only wholly postgraduate institution in the UK, has an international reputation for inspirational teaching and research, industrial-scale facilities and extensive links with industry and commerce. Cranfield's mission to transform knowledge into ingenious solutions in science, technology and management places it at the forefront of some of the world's most practical, cutting-edge projects. Cranfield University has been involved for a number of years in research projects that seek to put forward technical solutions to advance reliable and environment friendly propulsion and power solutions, through for example new radical designs of aircraft and propulsion systems and zero-emission cars. This same enthusiasm for the areas of expertise we traditionally have operated in has for the last few years been extended to renewable energy generation projects an area where the university perceives real and growing opportunities. Against this background the Orecon wave energy conversion project is seen as an important piece of work both in terms of its expected impact in the renewable generation scene as well as a significant opportunity for Cranfield to advance its strong brand identity status in this strategically important and potentially hugely expanding area.
http://www.cranfield.ac.uk/
Peter Brotherhood - Peter Brotherhood is a leading designer, manufacturer and service provider of process and energy systems serving major industries across the globe. Working within a wide range of fields, the company has accumulated vast experience in numerous markets and specializes in the design and manufacture of reliable and efficient steam turbines with power outputs from 1 MW up to 40 MW.
Working in collaboration through the Technology Strategy Board has enabled Peter Brotherhood, Orecon and Converteam to work together in order to further develop their technology. The overall aim being, to provide a unique operational system for harnessing wave energy that can be converted efficiently back to a grid connection.
http://www.peterbrotherhood.co.uk/
Converteam -Converteam Group is a world leader in power conversion engineering.
Building on over a century of experience, it is firmly placed at the leading edge of technology and innovation with a global reputation for excellence in the conversion of electrical energy. Converteam develops and provides solutions built around three core components: rotating and linear machines, variable speed drives and process automation. Serving specialised sectors as well as its core markets in Marine, Renewables, Oil & Gas and Offshore, Energy and Industry, its 4,800 staff members provide power conversion solutions worldwide.
Converteam is the UK's largest independent supplier of electrical systems into the Renewables Market and delighted to be a partnered with Orecon for the BERR project.