The partners in the innovative industry-led project that aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of renewable energy for powering subsea production systems and vehicles are getting ready to demonstrate the integrated system offshore Orkney in Scotland.
The project, dubbed ‘Renewables for Subsea Power’ , is being developed by Verlume , Baker Hughes , Mocean Energy , and Transmark Subsea .
It will combine Verlume’s Halo seabed battery energy storage system and Mocean Energy’s Blue X wave energy converter to deliver emission-free, renewable power and communications within harsh, deep-sea environments to subsea infrastructure such as subsea production control systems and residential remotely operated vehicles (ROVs), as well as autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs).
Early in 2023, Verlume’s storage system arrived to Orkney, where it is being coupled with Mocean Energy’s device before the deployment as part of the final phase of the project, which as Offshore Energy understands, will be done in collaboration with Scottish marine services provider Leask Marine .
As reported earlier, Mocean Energy successfully trialed its Blue X prototype at sea at the European Wave Energy Centre (EMEC) in 2021.
The 20-metre long, 38-tonne wave machine, delivered steady outputs of up to 5kW and safe instantaneous peaks of 30kW , while operating in sea states of up to 2.3 meters maximum wave height for five months.
Verlume’s Halo storage unit , the third commercial unit to be delivered by the company, is a modular and scalable battery storage solution which has been designed for the harsh subsea environment, which represents a gateway for renewable energy to high value assets which provides a reliable, uninterrupted power supply predominantly for seabed use.
To remind, aside from collaborating in Renewables for Power project, Mocean Energy, Verlume, and Baker Hughes also signed a tripartite agreement in September 2022 to identify and discuss potential opportunities for collaboration on integrated wave energy and subsea energy storage solutions for the emerging subsea clean energy market .