Wave energy developer Aquamarine Power will hold a public meeting and drop-in information session in Stromness next Wednesday [17 February 2010] to share its plans for a second Oyster wave energy project at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in 2011.
The drop-in session will be held at the Stromness Golf Club on Ness Road from 11.30am to 4.00pm. Members of the Aquamarine Power team will be on hand to explain the company’s plans for Oyster 2 and answer any questions. A series of exhibition panels and a working scale model of Oyster 2 will also be on display. The public meeting will begin at 6.30pm with a short presentation followed by an informal question and answer session.
A free bus service will run between Kirkwall and Stromness for those wishing to attend. The first bus will depart from Kirkwall Travel Centre on West Castle Street at 11am (returning 4pm), with a second service departing from the same location at 6.00pm (returning 9.00pm).
Martin McAdam, Chief Executive Officer of Aquamarine Power, said:
“This is a very important time for the marine energy industry and Orkney is right at the centre of this exciting new industry.
“The people of Orkney have been incredibly welcoming to us since we began developing our first Oyster project at EMEC.
“The views of the local community are very important to us and to the development of Oyster 2 and we very much look forward to welcoming people along to this event and hearing their views.
“Over 70 people attended the public meetings that we held in Kirkwall and Stromness in May 2009 to explain the Oyster 1 project. We are hoping for a similar turnout at this event.”
Last week, Aquamarine Power secured £5.1 million of public funding to support the manufacture of the Oyster 2 device. The company received the grant from the Marine Renewables Proving Fund (MRPF), a £22 million initiative funded by the UK Government’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and managed by the Carbon Trust. The fund aims to accelerate the leading and most promising marine energy devices towards the point where they can qualify for the UK Government’s existing Marine Renewables Deployment Fund support scheme and, ultimately, be deployed on a commercial scale.
The first full-scale 315kW Oyster was officially launched by Scotland’s First Minister Alex Salmond MP, MSP at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Stromness in November last year, when it began producing power to the National Grid for the first time.
The next-generation 2.5MW Oyster 2 project will consist of three linked wave energy devices powering a single onshore hydro-electric generator. A commercial farm of 20 Oyster devices will provide enough energy to power 9,000 three bedroom family homes and offset carbon emissions of up to 20,000 tonnes. Aquamarine Power plans to deploy its first commercial Oyster devices by 2013.
The Oyster 2 device features a new shape designed for increased performance and efficiency – capturing more of the ocean’s energy and producing more power per tonne of steel. The device has also been designed for mass manufacture and will consist of a modular construction for ease of installation and maintenance. Multiple devices will share one pipeline and one onshore generator which will offer efficiencies of scale.