PECMAG PTO system on trials at Port of Montrose

Subsea engineering firm Oceaneering and partners recently deployed their PECMAG power take-off technology at Port of Montrose for testing.

The Power Electronic Controlled Magnet Gear (PECMAG) is one of the projects in Wave Energy Scotland PTO call.

The PECMAG PTO system is a modular all-electric system with magnetic gearing that developed to suit a variety of WEC devices, offering both rotary and linear actuator systems.

Medium scale prototypes of both the rotary and linear actuator PECMAG systems have been manufactured and bench tested – with measurements confirming the high conversion efficiency performance figures expected from the contactless gear system.

Input from WEC developers, has also aided the PECMAG prototypes development, resulting in a thorough understanding and refinement of the PECMAG technology.

The testing and LCOE modelling undertaken in the Stage 2 project has identified performance and manufacturability improvement points.

The Stage 3 project will extend the bench testing and refinement to include the bearings and assembly/manufacture processes for the gear system culminating in wet testing in real sea waves on a WEC test platform.

In March 2018, Ecosse Subsea Systems secured £2.5-million funding from Wave Energy Scotland (WES) to develop a magnetic gear system which could be pivotal in developing wave energy convertors.

In addition, sub-contractors for the project include Supply Design Ltd, Pure Marine Ltd and also Bathwick Electrical Design Ltd.