Wave energy developer Atmocean is wrapping up preparations for the shipment of its single pump wave unit to Canada, scheduled for next week, ahead of ocean trials set to begin later in September.
The entire single pump unit is planned to ship out via container on September 5, 2017, for Newfoundland in Canada, according to Atmocean’s Chief Operating Officer, Christopher White.
The unit is currently in Albuquerque in Atmocean’s home state of New Mexico where the remaining components of the pump are going through final assembly with the company’s local producer Reytek.
The work is being done for Atmocean’s project with the College of North Atlantic at Lord’s Cove which seeks to develop a land based integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) system.
The testing of the system is planned to start around September 20, 2017, depending on the weather conditions in the area, White confirmed.
“Maintaining a design that can easily be moved by road and container continues to allow for low cost testing and use of local labor and resources. The test includes sending the pumped pressurized seawater onshore to the IMTA system, providing salmon and other marine species with wave powered flow through seawater. This lays the groundwork for establishing some of the most sustainable and environmentally sound aquaculture practices known to the industry,” White said.
Although Atmocean is still focused on building out a full commercial array consisting of 16 buoys with an end product of desalinated water for coastal countries in need such as Perú and Chile, this demonstration could open the doors for the company to enter an entirely different but equally massive industry, White added.
The deployment represents another step forward towards the commercialization of Atmocean’s system as this third round of testing is expected to bring it to a technology readiness level (TRL) of seven – a technology prototype which has been demonstrated in an operational environment.
Atmocean’s system consists of buoys and pressurized pumps, and uses wave power to send pressurized seawater onto shore where it is desalinated without the use of external energy.
It is also capable of producing electricity, but the company is currently focused on different applications for the technology.