ÉireComposites has secured a little over €250,000 from the Marine Institute of Ireland for the provision of new specialist marine equipment that will enhance its services for tidal energy sector.
Ireland-based composite design, manufacturing and testing services provider ÉireComposites said the grants will be used to fund both Computer Numerical Control (CNC), and Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) machines that will improve its marine-related manufacturing and research capabilities.
The CNC machine will be used to manufacture molds for wind and tidal turbine blades, while the DMA machine will be employed to characterize novel composite materials for marine applications, according to ÉireComposites.
The funding was secured as part of a larger €3.3 million grant awards from the Irish government to 20 research projects in the areas of specialist marine equipment, and ocean law and marine governance.
To remind, last year in February ÉireComposites collected €500,000 as part of the €10 million FloTEC tidal energy project to develop higher performance tidal turbine blades at an affordable cost.
The project, led by Scotrenewables Tidal Power, is expected to advance Scotrenewables’ 2 MW floating tidal turbine technology, the SR2000, while reducing the levelized cost of energy (LCoE) of floating tidal energy.
Also, ÉireComposites is taking part in Wave Energy Scotland-funded project focused on innovative materials and processes for wave energy devices.
The company is participating in Rotational Moulding of Polymers, Composites and Hybrid WEC Structures (RotoHybrid) project, led by the University of Edinburgh. The project aims to develop rotational molding of polymers for the design of novel hybrid wave energy converters with 50-60% lower capital expenditure.