Alstom and SSE Renewables Create Joint Venture to Co-Develop World's Largest Wave Farm off the Coast of Orkney, Scotland
January 17 2012 - 3:25AM
Business Wire
Regulatory News:
Alstom (Paris:ALO) and the leading Scottish marine developer SSE
Renewables have signed a new joint venture agreement to develop the
Costa Head Wave Project, an up to 200 Megawatts (MW) wave energy
site located north of mainland Orkney, in The Crown Estate’s
Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Strategic Area.
Alstom and SSE Renewables will work together to obtain the
necessary permits and intend to populate the site with AWS-III wave
energy converters, a technology currently under development by AWS
Ocean Energy Ltd, in which Alstom acquired a 40% equity share in
June 2011.
The Costa Head site is located in water depths of 60 – 75m
approximately 5km to the north of Orkney Mainland. SSE Renewables
and Alstom propose to carry out detailed site surveys and an
environmental impact assessment (EIA),to develop the site with an
initial phase of around 10MW, before moving on to install the full
site capacity.Established in 2004, AWS Ocean Energy is focused on
the development and delivery of its AWS-III wave energy converter,
a floating device with a rated power output of 2.5 MW. A 1:9 scale
model of the AWS-III was tested in Loch Ness in 2010. Full scale
component testing will commence in 2012 with the support of the
Scottish Enterprise-administered WATERS fund (Wave and Tidal
Energy: Research, Development and Demonstration Support), with a
full-scale prototype planned for deployment at the European Marine
Energy Centre in 2014.
Wave energy is a widely distributed renewable resource
worldwide, with an estimated potential market of 200 to 300
Gigawatts(GW). Its proximity to densely populated regions of Europe
and North America makes it an attractive new source of renewable
energy. The AWS-III technology consists of a multi-cell array of
flexible membrane absorbers which convert wave power to pneumatic
power through compression of air within cells that are
inter-connected. Turbine-generator sets are provided to convert the
pneumatic power to electricity.
A typical AWS-III device will comprise an array of 12 cells,
each measuring around 16m wide by 8m deep, arranged around a
structure with overall beam of up to 60m. Such a device has a
capacity of 2.5 MW whilst having a structural steel weight of less
than 1300 tonne. The AWS-III will be slack moored in water depths
of 65 to 150m using standard mooring spreads. Devices will be
arranged in arrays or ‘farms’ of up to several hundred MW total
rating. Each AWS-III will be connected to a central offshore
substation via a high-voltage umbilical link. “The selection of the
AWS-III system for this exciting and ground-breaking project is a
significant endorsement of our technology and team. We firmly
believe that the AWS-III will become the established choice for
utility scale offshore wave power generation. We look forward to
working with Alstom and SSE to deliver Costa Head “ said Simon
Grey, Chief Executive of AWS Ocean Energy Ltd.
"We are delighted to announce our agreement with SSE Renewables,
one of the leading developer of marine energy in the world, to
develop Costa Head, which is the largest wave energy site being
developed today in the world. When completed, it will make a
valuable contribution to the UK's renewable energy targets," said
Jérôme Pécresse, President, Alstom Renewable Power and Senior Vice
President, Alstom Hydro. "This project places Alstom at the
forefront of the fast-developing ocean energy sector along with our
offshore wind and tidal energy businesses. It demonstrates the
strength of our offer as a leading supplier of clean energy
solutions and of our involvement in all renewable energy sources in
Scotland, the potential of which is considerable."
SSE Renewables, the leading wave and tidal utility in Scotland,
received exclusive development rights to the Costa Head site from
the Crown Estate in 2010, and with partners is currently developing
half of the 1.6 GW of wave and tidal sites leased by the Crown
Estate as part of a commercial leasing programme for marine energy
projects. “We are delighted to enter into this partnership with
Alstom on the Costa Head Project. As a leading global provider of
energy solutions and developer of marine technologies and with
their interest in AWS Ocean Energy they are a very strong partner
to bring on board. This partnership represents a significant
milestone for the Costa Head Project and we look forward to working
together with Alstom on the successful development of this
important wave site”, said John Thouless, Head of Marine
Development at SSE Renewables.
About AlstomAlstom is a global leader in the world of
power generation, power transmission and rail infrastructure and
sets the benchmark for innovative and environmentally friendly
technologies. Alstom builds the fastest train and the highest
capacity automated metro in the world, provides turnkey integrated
power plant solutions and associated services for a wide variety of
energy sources, including hydro, nuclear, gas, coal and wind, and
it offers a wide range of solutions for power transmission, with a
focus on smart grids. The Group employs 92,700 people in around 100
countries, and had sales of €20.9 billion in 2010/11.
About SSE RenewablesSSE Renewables is the renewable
energy development division of SSE.SSE is one of the UK’s leading
energy companies, involved in the generation, distribution and
supply of electricity and in the storage, distribution and supply
of gas. It supplies energy to around 10 million customers
throughout the country, is independently-recognised as the best
energy supplier for customer service and is the UK’s leading
generator of electricity from renewable sources. SSE Renewables is
involved in the development of new renewable energy projects
covering wind, wave, tidal, biomass and hydro electricity and is in
the middle of an investment programme that will see £3bn invested
in new renewable projects between 2008 and 2013.
About AWSAWS Ocean Energy Ltd is a wave energy technology
development company based in Inverness. AWS is progressing a
rigorous Technology Qualification programme to deliver the AWS-III
technology as a commercially viable product which will enable
reliable, affordable and operable wave power stations.Backed by
Alstom, Shell Technology Ventures Fund 1 and the Scottish
Investment Bank, , AWS has a staff of 27 the majority of whom form
an experienced team of engineers and researchers who seek a
collaborative approach to development where innovation and value
are enhanced through shared experience and communication. AWS is
the only company in the wave power sector which is directly backed
by a major OEM.