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16 May 2008 -
Unique Array of Wave Buoys for PRIMaRE at the South West of England Wave Hub site
The Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE) has ordered 8 Fugro OCEANOR
SEAWATCH MINI II buoys to form the core of an instrumentation network at the Wave Hub site off the
South West of England.
Wave Hub is a groundbreaking renewable energy project that aims to create the UK's first offshore
facility for the demonstration and proving of arrays of wave energy generation devices (WECs). The
Wave Hub facility will provide a well defined and monitored site with electrical connection to the
onshore national grid. Four different proven commercial WEC manufacturers will each have a berth
to connect a number of their devices to the Wave Hub's sea bed 'socket' which is approximately 16
km offshore and at a depth of 50m.
PRIMaRE, which is directly linked to the Wave Hub project, is tasked to monitor and characterize
the wave climate at the site. The 8 directional wave sensor buoys will facilitate this with detailed
coverage of the 2km by 4km deployment area.
More significantly, as a part of an extensive but highly
integrated system of oceanographic, meteorological and environmental monitoring equipment at the Wave
Hub site, the buoy array will constitute a world leading facility giving researchers in wave energy a
unique opportunity to work with much richer and detailed data sets.
The buoy array will also be an important part of the Wave Hub's infrastructure, feeding wave information
to the WEC devices. In one mode of operation the buoys will be able to deliver synchronized live and
continuous data streams that will allow a local description of the sea surface to be computed in near
real time. This data can be provided as a live feed to the WEC devices to help optimize their energy
output.
Notes:
The Peninsula Research Institute for Marine Renewable Energy (PRIMaRE) has been formed by the Marine
Institute of the University of Plymouth in partnership with the University of Exeter. An initial fund
of over £7.3 million from Southwest Regional Development Agency (SWRDA) has allowed PRIMaRE to bring
together a unique team of world-class researchers to provide unparalleled expertise and research capacity
to address the wider considerations of all aspects of Marine Renewable Energy.
(http://www.primare.org/)
South West Wave Hub (http://www.wavehub.co.uk)
Fugro OCEANOR
Fugro OCEANOR is a high technology company specialising in the design, manufacture, technological
development, installation and support of integrated real-time environmental monitoring, forecasting
and information systems for oceans, coastal areas, rivers, lakes, groundwater and soil. The Company
has over 20 years of international experience and a staff with multi-disciplinary backgrounds including
those within real-time systems, meteorology, marine technology, oceanography, hydrology, water engineering,
waves, and software development. (www.oceanor.com)
For further information, please contact:
Richard Thurley
University of Exeter
Cathryn Primrose
Project/Sales Manager - Fugro OCEANOR
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