The proposed Ocean Energy Test Bed will be used for the purposes of testing, demonstrating and validation of renewable energy devices and marine environmental sensors and technologies.
The Marine Institute, in collaboration with Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre (UCC) and SmartBay Ireland received the funds in the amount of EUR 3.6 mln via a grant from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), to develop the Ocean Energy Test Bed.
Galway Bay test site for ocean energy is to be expanded with an underwater cable observatory and a floating ‘Sea-station’, that will provide additional power to Ocean Energy Conversion (OEC) devices being tested at the site, according to SEAI.
Plans have been made to expand the site by deploying a floating ‘Sea-station’ facility designed to provide power to OEC devices in addition to supplying high-speed data transmission for real-time monitoring. SmartBay Ireland manages the site on behalf of the Marine Institute and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the ‘Sea-station’ is expected to be operated by Q3 of 2015.
The subsea cable observatory is in plans for the site as well. The project involves laying a 4 km fiber-optic that will terminate at an underwater node and provide up to nearly 8 kW of power and data communications. The cable will be installed in April, 2015, according to Connacht Tribune, an Irish news publisher.
Ireland’s one quarter scale marine test site is located 1.5 km offshore in water depths of up to 23 m within Galway Bay. It is used by developers to conduct sea trials and validation of devices and components at various technology readiness levels. Marine Institute holds the license for the site since 2006.
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