Tech Trail

This year’s Ocean Energy Europe Conference & Exhibition will once again feature a Tech Trail, an exhibition of real ocean energy machines and machine parts.

The Trail will feature technology from OEE members: Orbital Marine Power’s SR-2000 blade, Schottel Marine Technologies’ Swift Anchor, CorPower Ocean’s former test buoey and Nova’s 30 tidal turbine blade.  

Wish to be included in the Tech Trail? Contact us for more information on how to feature your technology.

This is a 1/4 scale model of the 300kW CorPower C4 Wave Energy Converter – deployed at full-scale in northern Portugal.

CorPower Ocean‘s Wave Energy Converters are of point absorber type, with a heaving buoy on the surface absorbing energy from ocean waves. The buoy is connected to the seabed using a tensioned mooring system.

CorPower Ocean is a turnkey supplier of wave energy systems, enabling their customers to generate clean electricity from ocean waves.

Wave energy brings stability to a future powered entirely by renewables, for generations to come.

Wave power.
To power the planet.

Tidal power generates energy from the movement of tides and currents.

Nova is a world-leading marine energy company delivering clean, predictable, cost competitive electricity.

The Nova 30 tidal turbine was installed in 2014 in Bluemull Sound, between the Shetland islands of Unst and Yell. The turbine supplied clean, predictable electricity to the local harbour.

The Nova 30 prototype was decommissioned in 2016 but paved the way for the development of the world’s first off-shore tidal farm that same year.

Orbital Marine Power is a Scottish renewable energy company focused on the development and global deployment of its pioneering floating turbine technology that can supply predictable, clean energy from the world’s tidal streams and ocean currents, every day, regardless of the weather.

The tech trail will feature one of the four blades from Orbital’s SR2000, which was launched and went into operation in 2016, connected to the UK grid through the European Marine Energy Centre test facility in Orkney. The SR2000 had two 1MW-rated powertrains and was driven by a two-bladed rotor which was stall regulated. With an overall power rating of 2MW, it became the world’s most powerful tidal stream turbine. The SR2000 was safely decommissioned in 2018 with the 600 tonne turbine being recovered onshore for recycling. The SR2000 made way for Orbital’s commercial demonstrator unit, the O2, also rated at 2MW of peak power. The O2 was launched and went into operation, at the same site as SR2000, in 2021.

SCHOTTEL Marine Technologies‘ Swift Anchors are a type of system that utilises the load bearing capacity of rock. The solution opens up previously disregarded or challenging sites with rock seabeds where traditional anchor types cannot be adopted or are not cost-effective. Unlike traditional drilled anchor piles that require the use of grout to secure them in place, Swift Anchors rely on mechanical interlock between the anchor and the surrounding rock to provide stability. The harder the rock, the better the Swift Anchor works, leading to a stronger, more efficient load capacity of the Swift Anchor solution.

One of the main advantages of the Swift Anchors technology is the ability to install much faster than traditional drilled and grouted anchors. Swift Anchors can be installed in just a single over boarding of the equipment and withstand load immediately upon installation. They also require fewer materials, smaller installation vessels and labour, which help to reduce overall project costs. Additionally, Swift Anchors are more environmentally friendly than traditional drilled and grouted solutions and can be fully decommissioned by just reversing the installation process.