A report prepared by Heriot-Watt University & The University of Edinburgh contributed to OES-IA Annex II – Guidelines for Development and Testing of Ocean Energy Systems Task 3.1 Assessment of the performance of Wave energy systems. (OES-IA Document nº T02-3.1)
BACKGROUND
A £42m share of the DTI’s Marine Renewables Deployment Fund (MRDF) has been set aside for the Wave and Tidal-stream Energy Demonstration Scheme. This will provide up to 25% of the capital cost of eligible mult i-device wave and tidal-current energy projects and revenue support payments of £100 per megawatt hour for electricity delivered to the network. The total value of the combined financial aid to any project will be capped at £9m. A maximum of two years will be allowed for the commissioning of projects after which revenue support payments will be paid for up to seven years.
A condition of project support from the Wave and Tidal-stream Energy Demonstration Scheme is that the performance of devices be monitored in accordance with an appropriate protocol such that all technologies can be assessed in a consistent manner. There will be one such protocol for tidal-stream devices and another for wave energy devices. The protocols, will form an appendix to any contract between MRDF Participants and the Secretary of State.
A Draft Wave Energy Device Performance Protocol was discussed by invited stakeholders at a Protocols Workshop in Edinburgh on the 19th of July 2006. It described how wave resources and wave energy device performances should be measured and reported to the DTI by early participants in the Wave and Tidal-stream Energy Demonstration Scheme. This document describes the Preliminary Wave Energy Device Performance Protocol and it incorporates responses to issues discussed at that workshop.
Key words used in this document (for example: scheme, participant , device, facility, project ) have been chosen to match their usage in the DTI document ‘Wave and Tidal-Stream Energy Demonstration Scheme’ of May 2005.
