UK: Fendercare Marine Aids Deployment of Penguin Wave Energy Converter

Finnish renewable technology developer, Wello Ltd, has successfully installed the Penguin wave energy converter (WEC) to Orkney waters, having chosen Fendercare Marine, part of James Fisher and Sons plc, as one of its key partners for the project.

The Penguin wave energy converter is now floating and connected to a mooring system in the Billia Croo test site. The actual installation of the Penguin took only 36 hours and was conducted by a multicat vessel assisted by a harbour tug.

Working from their service and support base at Lyness Harbour in the Orkney Islands, Fendercare Marine provided shoreside project management as part of a team led by Orcades Marine Management Consultants as well as shoreside labour support, final ballasting and mooring equipment supply.

Wello Penguin is a unique and patented construction to harvest ocean energy. It is based on industry standard components, including a generator typically used by wind turbines, to allow scalable manufacturing by virtually any shipyard using existing manufacturing processes.

Located at the heart of the world’s wave and tidal energy industry, Fendercare Marine’s Lyness service and support base was opened in 2011 and is ideally positioned to improve the processes of build, installation, test and ongoing maintenance. A second offshore base, dedicated to supporting offshore wind turbines, was opened in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk on 19 July 2012, further demonstrating their group-wide strategy of supporting offshore wind and renewable energy projects from its strategically located bases throughout the UK.

“Fendercare Marine is very proud to have been part of the project management team used for the deployment of the Penguin WEC from our base on Lyness in Orkney. We wish Wello every success during the time that Penguin is operational. This project further demonstrates the strategic importance of our base in Orkney and our ability to work in cooperation with local companies to deliver projects with diverse requirements.

“The future of marine renewables holds many challenges and our ability to draw on the strengths of the wider James Fisher Group along with key international and local company expertise will help to provide the solutions required to industrialise the sector” said Stan Groundwater, Fendercare Marine Operations Manager.

Initial results confirm efficient rotating movement of the Penguin WEC even in smaller waves than originally anticipated. Installation will be followed by data collection and performance optimization based on the data.

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Offshore WIND staff, July 27, 2012; Image: wello