Oyster deployed at sea.

Aquamarine Power has received a financial boost receiving GBP 5.1 million of public funding which will be used to manufacture the Oyster 2, second generation wave energy device. Later this year, Oyster 2 will be completed and installed for testing at the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland.

The grant comes from Marine Renewables Proving Funding, which is a GBP 22 million initiative by the UK government, managed by the Carbon Trust.

The first generation Oyster has been successfully installed and connected to the power grid in Orkney, supplying 315 kW of clean electricity. The device is generating data, which will be used for the coming project of three interconnected Oyster 2 devices, powering a 2.5 MW hydropower facility. Oyster 2 features a new design, which is supposed to increase performance and efficiency, capturing more ocean energy and producing more power per ton of steel used. It is designed to be modular, making it suitable for mass production.

[source: Aquamarine Power, image: Aquamarine Power]