Bernera Wave Farm

Pelamis Wave Power is developing a 10MW wave farm project off the west coast of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. The Outer Hebrides offer one of the strongest wave energy resources in the world.

The proposed farm will consist of up to 14 Pelamis machines and will be located between one and ten kilometres from the shore. The site itself is some 100-square kilometres in size, which allows Pelamis to narrow the location for the final wave farm, which will only occupy roughly two square kilometres once built, by conducting site investigations and consultations with local sea users and stakeholders.

The Bernera project was successful in securing an Agreement for Lease from The Crown Estate in October 2011.

Pelamis Wave Power is a partner in the Hebridean Marine Energy Futures Project, a collaboration of industry and academia led by Lews Castle College, which was successful in securing a £900,000 grant from the Scottish Funding Council in March 2011. Through the project, three wave measurement buoys have been deployed, one in the Bernera area and two to the North West of Lewis. These will enable accurate assessment of the wave resource and inform the layout and position of the Pelamis wave farm. 

In 2005 Pelamis Wave Power manufactured the steel tube sections for three Pelamis machines at the Arnish Fabrication Yard.

Wave resource reference: Western Isles Wave Study Report, Western Isles Development Trust, Halcrow, 2008.