SEA connects Oceantec WEC at bimep

Cohort subsidiary, SEA, has installed a 13.2kV cable connection to support the Oceantec wave energy converter being tested at Biscay Marine Energy Platform (bimep) off Spain.

A team of engineers and technicians from SEA Subsea Engineering division terminated the device cable connection onshore and subsequently connected the two halves at the wave site.

The device is now fully operational and generating wave power back to shore, SEA informed.

The connections at bimep are a new variant of the nine 33kV connections first installed by SEA in 2009 at the Orkney-based European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).

Bimep is a research infrastructure dedicated for demonstrating the technical and economic viability of marine energy converters prior to their large-scale commercialisation, located 1.7 km off Armintza, Spain, with a generating capacity of 20MW.

Oceantec WEC, developed by Oceantec Energías Marinas to be tested at bimep, is part of the EU-funded OPERA project that aims to halve the costs of wave energy.

SEA, acquired by Cohort in 2007, is a supplier of applied research, technology development, systems integration, specialist electronic systems, engineering and software design services to the defence and security markets.