Country Reports
OPEN SEA TEST SITES
In 2016 a discussion was initiated towards moving the localisation of the Portuguese Pilot zone from São Pedro de Moel to Póvoa de Varzim, where the Offshore wind prototype Windfloat has been tested for 3 years. In this area two wave energy projects were tested in the past, the AWS in 2004 and Pelamis in 2006. The underwater electrical cable has been always the same, installed since the first wave energy tests in that site.
OPERATIONAL PROJECTS
In 2016, only one project on wave energy was running in Portugal, Pico Plant on the Island of Pico, Azores. It is a shoreline OWC (Oscillating Water Column) wave energy pilot plant (www.pico-owc.net) built in 1995-1998 with support from the European Commission, and operated by WavEC. In 2016 the plant produced 39 MWh.
PLANNED DEPLOYMENTS
PORTUGAL
Ana Brito e Melo & Antonio Falcão
WavEC & Instituto Superior Técnico (IST)
TECHNOLOGY DEMONSTRATION
OPEN SEA TEST SITES
In 2016 a discussion was initiated towards moving the localisation of the Portuguese Pilot zone from São Pedro de Moel to Póvoa de Varzim, where the Offshore wind prototype Windfloat has been tested for 3 years. In this area two wave energy projects were tested in the past, the AWS in 2004 and Pelamis in 2006. The underwater electrical cable has been always the same, installed since the first wave energy tests in that site.
OPERATIONAL PROJECTS
In 2016, only one project on wave energy was running in Portugal, Pico Plant on the Island of Pico, Azores. It is a shoreline OWC (Oscillating Water Column) wave energy pilot plant (www.pico-owc.net) built in 1995-1998 with support from the European Commission, and operated by WavEC. In 2016 the plant produced 39 MWh.
It has been decided to decommission the plant, which has achieved 10 years of continuous operation, with interruptions for maintenance and replacement of components. During this period, Pico plant has allowed to develop and test maintenance methodologies, as well as to validate numerical simulation codes, further providing training for several researchers, including PhD studies.
PLANNED DEPLOYMENTS
WaveRoller
During year, AW-Energy provided two major milestones for the whole emerging industry as in June Lloyd’s Register awarded its first ever Technology Qualification certificate in the domain of ocean energy to WaveRoller technology. Another significant milestone was the €10 million financing contract secured from the European Investment Bank, taking ocean energy among the industries financed by the bank. Both milestones are major steps towards commercial bankability of the ocean energy technologies.
During year, AW-Energy provided two major milestones for the whole emerging industry as in June Lloyd’s Register awarded its first ever Technology Qualification certificate in the domain of ocean energy to WaveRoller technology. Another significant milestone was the €10 million financing contract secured from the European Investment Bank, taking ocean energy among the industries financed by the bank. Both milestones are major steps towards commercial bankability of the ocean energy technologies.
In Portugal, AW-Energy is currently working with its partners and customers in three different projects. Delivery of the first commercial 350 kW rated machine is at finalization phase and the unit is rolling out from the assembly line during the spring time 2017. In addition to this project, the company is currently working with an industrial consortium looking to install three more 350 kW units during 2018-2019, and the licensing of the 5.6MW NER300 winning SWELL project has been planned to start during 2017.
Bombora Wave Power
The Australian company, Bombora Wave Power, is planning its first real scale deployment in Europe and is considering to undertake the project in Peniche. The company has been preparing the documentation to apply for the licensing process in Portugal and is now looking for potential partners.
The Australian company, Bombora Wave Power, is planning its first real scale deployment in Europe and is considering to undertake the project in Peniche. The company has been preparing the documentation to apply for the licensing process in Portugal and is now looking for potential partners.
