PWP Celebrates Outcome of Crown Estate's Leasing Round | 16 March 2010
Pelamis Wave Power Ltd (PWP), have been named as the technology supplier for three major offshore wave energy projects in the worlds first seabed leasing round off the north coast of Scotland.
The three Pelamis projects which were successfully awarded lease options from The Crown Estate in the UK’s first marine energy leasing round include:
Commenting on the three projects, with a cumulative capacity of 150MW, Chief Executive Officer of PWP, Neels Kriek, said: “The Crown Estate’s process has set our industry on course towards delivering marine projects of utility scale, and PWP is delighted that both Scottish Power Renewables and E.ON UK endorsed our technology in their applications. We are proudly and uniquely aligned in our respective goals of delivering renewable energy through multiple commercial Pelamis projects in the next 5 to 10 years.” Kriek continued: “The challenges associated with the ambitions which have been set today are significant, and the team at PWP are energised to embrace these challenges to the benefit of Scottish Power Renewables, E.ON UK, our other customers and the UK low carbon economy objectives. I am confident that we are ideally placed with the significant support from the Scottish Government and DECC to translate today’s announcement into a global success for the UK, Scotland and the sector.”
PWP Awarded Lease Option for North Coast Wave Farm | 16 March 2010
The lease area, which lies a number of kilometres offshore from Bettyhill in Sutherland, was identified by PWP in 2008, when the company secured a grid connection. Today’s announcement will allow the Scottish company to develop and deliver a Pelamis wave farm, with a capacity of up to 50MW, which would be sufficient to meet the electricity needs of some 25,000 homes.
PWP are no strangers to operating in the region having installed the full-scale Pelamis prototype at EMEC in Orkney between 2004 and 2007; which was the world’s first grid connected offshore wave energy converter. Later this year PWP will be returning to EMEC to start demonstration of the first Pelamis P2 machine for utility client E.ON UK.
PWP Project Development Manager Andrew Scott welcomed the outcome of the leasing round saying: “This is terrific news for PWP and Armadale. The agreement with The Crown Estate, along with a grid connection, has significantly de-risked this project opportunity, and we look forward to bringing this project through consents to a position where it can be built and start exporting wave power to the UK grid”.
PWP have elected to use an Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), Ocean Power Delivery, to carry out the project development work for the site, which is currently named “Armadale”.
With a mainland grid connection; the Armadale project represents the only proposed wave farm in Scotland that is not dependant on an island transmission upgrade. Neels Kriek PWP Chief Executive said: “Choosing a mainland grid connection gives us the clear route to deliver a utility scale wave farm, potentially up to 50MW, within the shortest timeframe, which presents a considerable opportunity for PWP; not least the potential to win the Saltire Prize.”
Photograph: Armadale Bay, Sutherland, Scotland.
Ed Miliband MP Visits Pelamis Wave Power | 5 March 2010
Ed Miliband, Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, today visited Pelamis Wave Power to see the final assembly of the P2, our next generation of wave energy converter. He was accompanied on his visit by local MP, Mark Lazarowicz and by Dave Rogers, E.ON UK's Regional Director for Climate & Renewables and Adrian Chatterton, head of construction for E.ON UK.
Ed Miliband was invited to climb inside the new Pelamis to see the fully assembled joint and power take-off system first hand. He later said “I am delighted to have had the opportunity to see the wave energy industry in action here today. I have been extremely impressed both by the Pelamis technology itself, and by the unique and visionary project that that Pelamis Wave Power and E.ON are delivering. The project is pulling the technology and sector forward, out of a long research and development phase and over the commercial Rubicon. It is exactly the type of project that our Marine Renewables Proving Fund was designed to support, it will lay a solid foundation for the Government’s commercial aspirations for the sector moving forward.”
Top photograph; Mark Lazarowicz MP, Max Carcas PWP, Ed Miliband MP, Adrian Chatterton E.ON, Richard Yemm PWP and Ed Maycock PWP, tour PWP’s assembly facilities in Leith.
Bottom photograph ; Ed Miliband climbs onto the P2 machine, photographed with Keith Lawson, senior operations engineer at PWP.
First P2 elements launched in Edinburgh | 15 February 2010
PWP recently launched the first tubes of the E.On P2 Pelamis machine. With specialist heavy-lift equipment from Mammoet, the 190tonne tubes were moved from PWP’s fabrication hall to the nearby quayside. From there they were individually lowered into Leith Docks where they joint union was made. A further three tubes will be launched in March for final assembly and ballasting.
P2 Project Awarded £4.8m of Funding | 2 February 2010
Pelamis Wave Power and project partners E.ON have secured £4.8m of funding from the UK government’s Marine Renewable Proving Fund (MRPF). The MRPF is a government initiative managed by the Carbon Trust with funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) created with the intent of supporting the most promising technologies in the marine industry.
Max Carcas, PWP’s Business Development Director, said “Pelamis Wave Power and our partners on this project E.ON, are delighted to have won such a significant award to support the manufacture, deployment and testing of our second generation Pelamis ‘P2’ machine. The P2 encompasses both our real at-sea operating experience with the first generation of machines, and a number of major technical innovations to improve manufacturability and enhance economic performance. The MRPF scheme represents a timely step-change in the levels and nature of support available from the UK Government, and is certain to both accelerate industry progress and to further cement the lead currently enjoyed by the sector in this country”.
The first P2 machine is currently under construction at PWP’s headquarters in Leith and will be deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre, Orkney, later this year. The project with E.ON is the UK’s first commercial supply contract within the marine sector. The MRPF scheme will allow PWP to increase the scope and pace of trials planned for this machine.
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Joint Venture with Vattenfall Announced to Develop Wave Power off Shetland | 16 December 2009
PWP and Swedish utility company Vattenfall today announced a joint-venture to develop a wave power project off the
The launch of the joint-venture, called Aegir Wave Power Ltd, is announced today, the same day that Vattenfall’s new office in Edinburgh, and the first in Scotland, is due to be officially opened by the First Minister, the Rt Hon Alex Salmond MP, MSP.
