EMEC
The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) is the first centre of
its kind anywhere in the world, offering facilities to test
full-scale grid-connected marine energy devices in open sea
conditions. We installed our first Oyster wave energy device
at EMEC in 2009 and will install our next-generation
Oyster 800 at EMEC in 2011.
EMEC was established in 2003 and to date has received over £30
million funding from Highlands and Islands Enterprise, the Scottish
and UK Governments, Scottish Enterprise, the Carbon Trust, the
European Union and Orkney Islands Council.
EMEC has a total of 12 grid-connected test berths at its wave
test site at Billia Croo near Stromness and its tidal test site off
the island of Eday. EMEC is also establishing several nursery
sites to provide test facilities for smaller scale devices.
In addition to its grid-connected open sea facilities, EMEC also
offers developers detailed site information regarding available
resource, environmental characteristics, and meteorological
data. EMEC provides additional support, including assistance
with legislation and consenting, as well as technical and
operational matters.
We were delighted to see Aquamarine Power’s Oyster 1 device installed and grid-connected at EMEC in 2009 and look forward to Oyster 2‘s installation this year. Together with Aquamarine Power and fellow developers, we have helped Orkney become the global centre of the marine energy industry. We look forward to contributing to their continued success.
Neil Kermode, Managing Director
European Marine Energy Centre