Pelamis Wave Power is the first developer to be awarded ‘Official Saltire Prize Competitor’ status from the Scottish Government for their wave farm project at Farr Point, Sutherland.

The Saltire Prize is a £10 million challenge offered by the Scottish Government to accelerate the commercial development of marine energy across the world. To win the prize, PWP must demonstrate that its commercially viable wave energy technology, the P2, achieves the greatest volume of electrical output over a continuous 2 year period using only the power of the sea (over the set minimum hurdle of 100GWh). The generation period begins on or prior to January 2015 and will run to January 2017.

The site of the Grand Challenge will be at Farr Point, Sutherland where PWP has achieved a grid connection and an Agreement for Lease under the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Leasing Round from the Crown Estate.

Neels Kriek, CEO of Pelamis Wave Power, said: “The Saltire Prize inspires the historic principles of Scottish innovation, engineering and achievement, which are also at the core of Pelamis Wave Power’s success. PWP is delighted to achieve Official Satire Prize Competitor Status in the Scottish Government’s global contest and looks forward to competing with other marine technologies in the Grand Challenge”.

“Achieving ‘Official Applicant Saltire Prize’ for our proposed Wave Farm at Farr Point, Sutherland firmly places the north coast of Scotland on the map for energy innovation”. Laura Carse, Project Development Manager, Pelamis Wave Power.

For more information on the Farr Point project see our project page.

Additional information about the Saltire Prize is available on the Scottish Government website.

The P2 is towed into Hoy, Orkney.

The Pelamis P2 machine arrived in Orkney yesterday afternoon after a successful sea trial and tow from Edinburgh. The machine left PWP’s facility in Leith docks, where it was designed and built, on Friday evening and was towed north by Delta Marine’s multicat vessel the Voe Viking. It will now be thoroughly inspected and prepared, ahead of connection to the pre-placed mooring system and electrical cable at the European Marine Test Centre (EMEC) site at Billia Croo. The machine will then undergo an intensive series of commissioning and evaluation trials through the remainder of the summer and autumn before entering full service.

The Voe Viking alongside the P2 machine, Orkney (top), the P2 machine leaves Leith docks, Edinburgh (bottom left), P2 machine moored up alongside Lyness quayside, Hoy, Orkney (bottom right).

The Pelamis P2 machine had its first taste of the open sea this week when it successfully completed its first set of trials in the outer reaches of the Firth of Forth.

The 36 hour test was carried out in small seas of around 1m height and 7 second period, and included full towing and manoeuvring trials, testing of the new mooring yoke, and extensive testing of the hydraulic, electrical and control systems. All tests were successfully completed with all systems performing as designed. Tests were supported by Delta Marine’s Voe Viking and Voe Chief vessels.

The machine, built for power utility E.ON, will head to Orkney shortly to be connected into the national grid at the European Marine Energy Centre.

(Left) Pelamis P2 has its first ‘taste’ of sea water as it leaves Leith Harbour for the first time and (right) the machine begins to flex in the small seas. (Top) the machine is towed in to the mouth of the Forth by Delta Marine’s vessel the Voe Viking.