Ocean Energy Limited, Ireland’s leading wave energy company, has landed a major landmark deal to provide the world’s largest grid connected offshore marine energy test site, Wave Hub in Cornwall, with its first multi-million euro energy device.

Cork-based Ocean Energy expects to deploy its first full-scale device costing €9 million at Wave Hub off the north coast of Cornwall by the end of this year.

Ocean Energy has been testing a quarter scale prototype of its OE Buoy in Galway Bay for three years. The company with its technology partner Dresser-Rand, the largest service provider in the oil and gas industry, was one of a number of companies competing for the opportunity to win the Wave Hub contract. The full-scale unit has the capacity to generate sustainable energy to power up to 1,200 homes.

Wave Hub will fund Ocean Energy’s deployment costs up to a maximum of £1 million (€1.2 million). This includes the cost of securing a marine licence and installation of moorings and deployment.

John McCarthy, chief executive and co-founder of Ocean Energy said: “This is a major achievement for Irish technology, which has been developed with the assistance of Irish government funding and expertise at the UCC Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre. It is also an endorsement of the technology development path adopted by Ocean Energy.“
He said that the rigorous testing and proven survivability of Ocean Energy’s technology was a key driver in winning this opportunity for their device. Ireland, with its resources and technical capabilities, has the potential to become the world leader in wave energy and Ocean Energy plans to play its part in making this a reality.”

Wave Hub general manager Claire Gibson said: “I am pleased to confirm our partnership with Ocean Energy Limited and look forward to assisting them with their deployment at Wave Hub later this year. Ocean Energy has completed three years of prototype testing in energetic sea conditions and is ready to make the next step to Wave Hub with a full-scale device. If the testing goes well we expect to see Ocean Energy deploy an array of devices at Wave Hub.”

According to a recent study by SEAI – Sustainable Energy Authority Ireland - the Irish wave energy industry has the potential to employ 50,000 people by 2030 and could generate over four times our current installed capacity or 30,000 MW of power. Denmark is the world leader in wind energy development and earns €6 billion annually from the industry, which employs 30,000 people

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Contact

Kevin Mills,
Mills Public Relations

00 353 (0)86 3620808.

Note to Editors

Ocean Energy’s OE Buoy uses the oscillating water column principle. As waves enter a subsea chamber they force air through a turbine on the surface, generating electricity. As the waves recede they cause a vacuum, drawing air back through the turbine. Ocean Energy’s technology means the turbine rotates continuously regardless of the direction of the airflow. This improves efficiency and means it only has one moving part, minimising maintenance costs.

Dresser-Rand and Ocean Energy Limited already have a memorandum of understanding to develop a full range of full-scale devices to produce commercial electricity. Dresser-Rand developed and patented the HydroAir™ turbine - a variable radius turbine that uses a combination of stainless steel, aluminium and reinforced composites to resist corrosion. The turbine is constructed to withstand the rigors of a marine environment, and demonstrates higher levels of efficiency when compared to existing impulse designs across a wide range of incident flows.

The Wave Hub, an electrical “socket” for testing wave energy machines, was put on the seabed off Hayle, Cornwall, UK in 2010.

www.oceanenergy.ie

MEDIA RELEASE from WAVE HUB

Wave Hub attracts new customer

Ocean Energy Limited, Ireland’s leading wave energy company, is working with Wave Hub, the world’s largest grid connected offshore marine energy test site, to deploy its technology at the site later this year.

Cork-based Ocean Energy, in collaboration with its partner Dresser-Rand, one of the largest global suppliers of custom-engineered rotating equipment solutions, expects to deploy a full-scale device at Wave Hub by the end of this year having tested a quarter scale prototype of its OE Buoy in Galway Bay for three years.

This means that two of Wave Hub’s four berths off Hayle on the north coast of Cornwall in South West England have now been reserved. US and UK-based Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) has already signed a commitment agreement to deploy its PowerBuoy device.

Wave Hub will match fund some of Ocean Energy’s deployment costs up to a maximum of £1 million, following a competition last year for device developers able to deploy in 2012. This includes the cost of securing a Marine Licence and installation of moorings and deployment.

Wave Hub general manager Claire Gibson said: “I am pleased to confirm our partnership with Ocean Energy Limited and look forward to assisting them with their deployment at Wave Hub later this year. Ocean Energy has completed three years of prototype testing in energetic sea conditions and is ready to make the next step to Wave Hub with a full scale device. If the testing goes well we expect to see Ocean Energy deploy an array of devices at Wave Hub.

“By supporting Ocean Energy’s deployment now we can fully test our operational procedures and establish the process for securing a Marine Licence. This will support and accelerate further deployments at Wave Hub.”

John McCarthy, chief executive and co-founder of Ocean Energy said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by Wave Hub to deploy our technology at their Hayle facility. Cornwall has been to the forefront in developing and incubating the wave energy sector and is well placed to reap the rewards of this foresight with an excellent range of services available locally.”

He said that the rigorous testing and proven survivability of Ocean Energy’s technology was a key driver in winning this opportunity for their device.

Ocean Energy will now consider fabricating its 1.5 MW device locally.

Ocean Energy’s OE Buoy uses the oscillating water column principle. As waves enter a subsea chamber they force air through a turbine on the surface, generating electricity. As the waves recede they cause a vacuum, drawing air back through the turbine. Ocean Energy’s technology means the turbine rotates continuously regardless of the direction of the airflow. This improves efficiency and means it only has one moving part, minimising maintenance costs.

Dresser-Rand and Ocean Energy Limited already have a memorandum of understanding to develop a full range of full-scale devices to produce commercial electricity. Dresser-Rand developed and patented the HydroAir™ turbine - a variable radius turbine that uses a combination of stainless steel, aluminium and reinforced composites to resist corrosion. The turbine is constructed to withstand the rigors of a marine environment, and demonstrates higher levels of efficiency when compared to existing impulse designs across a wide range of incident flows.

This announcement follows South West England’s recent designation as the UK’s first Marine Energy Park.

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February 9, 2012

Notes to Editors
Wave Hub consists of a giant ‘socket’ on the seabed connected to the national grid on shore by an underwater cable, into which wave energy devices can be ‘plugged’ and tested on a scale not seen anywhere before. The project has four berths available and a capacity of 20MW, equivalent to the electricity needs of more than 7,000 homes.
Wave Hub is publicly-owned by the UK Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) which has set up a stand-alone operating company, Wave Hub Limited, based in Hayle, Cornwall, to manage the day-to-day operation of the testing facility on its behalf.
Wave Hub is a £42 million project funded with £20 million from the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme and £22 million from the UK Government.
Wave Hub is a partner in the South West Marine Energy Park. For a copy of the South West Marine Energy Park prospectus, please click here.
Follow Wave Hub on Twitter @wavehub, or visit www.wavehub.co.uk
For more information about Ocean Energy, including videos of the OE Buoy in action, visit: www.oceanenergy.ie

For more information contact:

Wave Hub:
Jason Clark
DCA Public Relations
01208-77900
07980-834368
jason.clark@dca-pr.co.uk

Ocean Energy Limited:
John McCarthy
Chief Executive
+353 (0) 21 481 6779
jmc@oceanenergy.ie

http://hmrc.ucc.ie/cores/

November 21st 2010

Maire Geoghan-Quinn, the EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, today visited the OceanEnergy Buoy in Galway. The device has been successfully tested in Galway Bay for over 2 and a half years. It is the only device of its type to have undergone and survived such rigorous testing including coping with a one in 40 year wave during the sea trials.

It is now to be used as a platform for European Universities and Companies to test their components on as part of the €4.5m European Research Project - CORES funded by Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn’s department.

The project is being co-ordinated by the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre (HMRC) in UCC and its aim is to further develop components required by the wave energy sector as it evolves such as power generators, power control systems, telemetry and grid interface tehchnology. The total amount of EU funding for the four Irish participants is €1.4m. The other countries represented in the project are Protugal, UK, Spain, Germany, Denmark and Italy.

Dr. Tony Lewis, Director of HMRC and Coordinator of the project said that it represents important research collaboration between University research groups and Industry in Europe and will lead to increased understanding of component behaviour to accelerate wave energy development.

John mcCarthy, Chief Executive of OceanEnergy said the project would make a significant contribution to the realisation of the wave energy sector in Ireland as a commercial reality. He said “the potential of the industry is tremendous not alone in terms of clean energy generated but also for job creation. The value of the wave energy resource could be worth as much as €295 Billion to the economy by 2050. Ultimately we will be connected to a Eurpean supergrid selling Irish electricity to Europe.”

“The publication in the past 2 weeks of the draft Ocean Renewable Energy Development Plan states that we have the potential to install 30,000MW of wave energy devices by 2030, by comparison the current level of installed wind is about 1,500MW and the industry employs about 1,500 people. Based on the Government studies, by achieving even 25% of this 30,000MW wave energy target we could create over 50,000 jobs because we could be using indigenous technology rather than importing it as we did with wind” according to Mr. McCarthy.

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The generation of commercial quantities of electricity from Irish wave power has moved a step closer with the signing of an agreement by Ireland’s leading wave energy development company, Ocean Energy Limited with one of the world’s leading turbine manufacturers, US multinational Dresser-Rand.

The move endorses Ocean Energy’s technology and also boosts the Government’s alternative energy strategy.

Ocean Energy has successfully tested its quarter scale Ocean Energy Buoy over the last two and a half years at the Government’s test site in Galway Bay. It is the only device of its type to have undergone and survived such a rigorous testing including coping with a one in 40 year wave during the sea trials.

John McCarthy, Chief Executive of Ocean Energy said the turbine development and supply agreement with Dresser-Rand marks another major milestone in the development of wave power in Ireland.

“As testament to Dresser-Rand’s belief in the potential of the wave energy sector and to the Ocean Energy buoy in particular Dresser-Rand have a designated product development team specifically tasked to develop air turbines for devices such as ours. The nature of our agreement is that Dresser-Rand have agreed to develop and supply turbines for our devices. We are the only company in the world Dresser-Rand have entered into a development and supply agreement and we see this not only an endorsement of our technology but of the Irish Government’s development strategy for the industry,” said Mr McCarthy.

By combining their technologies and expertise, Dresser-Rand and Ocean Energy Limited will provide total energy solutions backed by Dresser-Rand’s global service network.

“Together we will be able to provide clients with a high level of confidence in the global wave energy market which is estimated to be worth €200 billion per annum. There will also be the added benefit of creating thousands of Irish jobs as well as providing much needed solutions to our energy and greenhouse gas problems,” said Mr McCarthy.

Dresser Rand are world renowned turbine manufacturers, with roots dating back to 1840. The company has a market capitalisation of $2.5 billion and has 62,000 turbines operating in over 140 countries. Dresser-Rand are major players in the oil and gas market and have the most extensive global service and support organisation in their sector with over 6,000 employees and service centres in seventeen countries.

Mr McCarthy concluded: “To have their support for our company is a significant endorsement of our technology by a company with such pedigree.”

Dresser-Rand Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, Brad Dickson said: “When our UK subsidiary, Dresser-Rand Company Ltd., acquired certain assets of Peter Brotherhood Ltd. last year, it expanded our renewable energy capabilities. The company has considerable experience in steam turbine systems for combined cycle and cogeneration, and waste-to-energy, among other applications. But one of the most interesting technologies is the patented air turbine – the HydroAir turbine – specifically targeted at the oscillating water column (OWC) or “wave energy” market. Marine renewable energy is becoming part of the renewable energy mix. Capturing just five percent of this theoretical global resource could satisfy 25 percent of the current global electricity consumption of 18,000 TWh/year. Our HydroAir turbine’s unique energy recovery system can be applied to offshore, near-shore and on-shore applications.”

Mr Dickson added: “Dresser-Rand is proud of its history and its continuing commitment to responsibly meeting global energy demands. And we’re excited about the opportunities ahead. We’re helping our clients improve their process efficiencies, meet increasingly stringent environmental regulations and increase energy capacity worldwide…all the while remaining focused on the environment.”

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