$4.4m Marine Energy Mooring, Anchoring and Quick-connect System Project set for Trials

A new mooring, anchoring and quick connect solution optimized for marine energy systems is set for Atlantic sea trials, following a range of laboratory and on-land test campaigns currently underway.

The $4.4m UMACK (Universal Mooring, Anchor & Connectivity Kit) Project has developed a unique mooring and anchoring solution aimed at superseding widely used ‘gravity-based’ anchor solutions – reportedly helping to reduce CAPEX, installation and O&M (Operational & Maintenance) costs by more than 50%.

UMACK Project Manager and CorPower Ocean Head of Projects Matt Dickson said the technology is being developed as a universal and adaptable solution for a broad range of marine energy applications and seabed types. .

On-land anchor testing is currently underway at the Fraunhofer Institute for Wind Energy System (IWES) in cooperation with the Test Center for Support Structures (TTH) of the Leibniz University of Hannover.

The UMACK project will finish by demonstrating the UMACK solution integrated with CorPower Ocean’s C4 Wave Energy Converter (WEC) in real ocean operating conditions. The company’s full scale WEC demonstration programme HiWave-5 runs in parallel with the UMACK project, with the first full-scale system scheduled for ocean deployment towards the end of 2021. CorPower’s WECs take the form of heaving buoys which float on the water surface absorbing energy from ocean waves, while connected to the sea floor via the UMACK system.

The UMACK Project is led by a European consortium including geotechnical specialist Ternan Energy, wave and tidal energy developers CorPower Ocean and Sustainable Marine Energy Limited, mooring experts TTI Marine Renewables, EMEC (European Marine Energy Centre) and marine renewable energy modelling experts from the University of Edinburgh.

Mooring installation work involving CorPower's C3 WEC. Image courtesy CorPower Ocean

Artist Illustration of a CorPower's WEC array. Image courtesy CorPower Ocean