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French engineering giant Alstom has announced that it has
signed a major new joint venture agreement with SSE Renewables,
which will see the two companies work together on the deployment
of the world's largest wave energy project off the coast of
Orkney.
Both Alstom
and SSE
Renewables said they will now work together to obtain
the necessary permits for the Costa Head site as part of the
Crown Estate's programme to deploy marine energy projects
in the designated Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Strategic
Area. Financial details of the joint venture and the project
were not disclosed.
The companies also confirmed plans to deploy wave
energy convertors developed by AWS Ocean Energy Ltd,
a marine energy specialist in which Alstom acquired
a 40 per cent equity stake last summer.
The AWS-III convertors, which are scheduled to undergo component
testing this year, before the deployment of a full-scale prototype
at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney in 2014, are
expected to deliver 2.5MW of capacity.
The new joint venture plans to install four converters during
the first phase of the project, delivering 10MW of capacity,
before installing a series of arrays capable of providing
200MW of capacity.
The converters use floating 'cells' - featuring flexible
membrane absorbers that convert wave energy into pneumatic
power that can then be used to drive turbines. According to
AWS, arrays of these cells provide an effective means of generating
utility-scale wave power while having a limited impact on
the local environment.
Jérôme Pécresse, president of Alstom Renewable Power, hailed
the new joint venture as a major milestone for the marine
energy industry.
"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," he said.
"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."
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