IT Power and the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy and Energy System Technology IWES announce their new partnership to provide the marine energy sector with a comprehensive end-to-end technical design, consulting and R&D service offering.
As the marine energy sector continues to evolve from early stage concepts towards project arrays, IT Power and Fraunhofer IWES are uniting forces to provide robust research, design and consulting support during the challenging technical evolution of the sector. Their combined service offering will enable start-up, mid-scale, full-scale technology companies or project developers to apply experienced support to deliver their technical solutions.
“Designing robust and efficient marine energy extraction technologies is a difficult task. There are many interesting concepts, but finding the right companies with the historical legacy to support it, can be tough,” says Abbie Badcock, Business Development Manager at IT Power.
She adds: “We are in a fortunate position to have been designing and offering technical support to the marine energy industry from the very beginning – since 1991. We’ve also been actively working with Fraunhofer IWES since 1995, so we’re pleased to present a cohesive service to really help technology and project developers.”
When discussing the significance of research and modelling tools, Jochen Bard from Fraunhofer IWES stated: “It’s all about the design and really understanding the marine environment these technologies are expected to operate within. The Fraunhofer IWES has made significant contributions to develop new wave and tidal devices, to test these technologies and their components every step of the way, while building on Wind energy design skills.”
As many companies look towards the Wind energy sector for answers, applying that knowledge to marine energy technologies offers a lot of positives.
“Being able to apply our research to practical projects is beneficial to the marine energy industry, as well as to our scientists!” Bard adds. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with IT Power to provide a combined approach to our customers wanting technical design assistance, project design support or market entry advice, and we look forward to a long and fruitful partnership together.”
The two organisations will be showcasing their combined services this week during the 4th International Conference on Ocean Energy in Dublin from 17th-19th October. The event is set to attract over 750 international visitors all looking to get to grips with marine energy technical challenges.
[mappress] Press Release, October 15, 2012; Image: IT Power