Fish population survey in Portugal to provide data for HiWave-5 and future installations

Portugal-based technology and innovation center dedicated to developing marine renewable energy, WavEC Offshore Renewables, has conducted a fish population survey to provide relevant information for the currently installed HiWave-5 project and future installations.

More precisely, WavEC conducted a fish population survey at the Aguçadoura test site in Portugal in July, as a part of the EU-backed SafeWAVE project (short for Streamlining the Assessment of Environmental Effects of Wave Energy) environmental monitoring activities.  

WavEC researchers, with the support of local fishermen, surveyed the Aguçadoura and adjacent control areas using mobile and fixed fishing techniques to characterize fish populations and associated invertebrate communities preliminarily.

“An additional survey is planned for the autumn, with the goal of identifying any seasonal trends in the local fish populations,” said SafeWAVE.

The HiWave-5 project aims to commercialize wave energy by 2030, according to CorPower Ocean. It is a research and technological development project focused on deploying a full-scale wave energy conversion (WEC) system off the coast of Aguçadoura, Póvoa do Varzim, Portugal.

The SafeWAVE project builds on the results of the WESE project completed in 2021. Its final aim is to develop a “Public Education and Engagement Strategy” collaboratively with coastal communities in France, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, and demonstrate a framework for education and public engagement for marine renewable energies. 

The project was launched in February 2021 and began collecting environmental data around GEPS Techno’s wave and solar energy hybrid WAVEGEM at the SEM-REV test site in France in July 2021.

In June 2023, Swedish company CorPower Ocean, a SafeWAVE project partner, and WavEC teamed up to deliver an environmental monitoring program to verify the environmental impact of its wave energy technology.

Phase one, which included underwater noise baseline campaigns, was concluded at the HiWave-5 Wave Energy Park off the coast of Aguçadoura, and involved analysis of ambient noise in the project area before installation.