Spain making waves in RE sector

Ocean Power Technology

Spain look set to benefit from the European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) after Ocean Power Technology (OPT) secured 2.2 million euros in funding for a wave energy project in the western European country.

The grant to OPT is part of a total award of 4.5 million euros to a consortium of companies, including OPT, to deliver a PowerBuoy wave energy device under the WavePort project, with wave prediction capabilities and a ‘wave-by-wave' tuning system.

Santoña is fully expected to be chosen as the location for the PowerBuoy wave energy device, where OPT has previously worked on a wave project under contract from Spanish utilities giant Iberdrola.

US-based renewable energy technology firm OPT will be responsible for the design, supply and deployment of the PowerBuoy wave energy device and underwater substation pod, according to Renewable Energy Focus. Additional funding will go towards remaining consortium members for the steel fabrication, wave-monitoring equipment, wave resource prediction research, system monitoring and project management.

Spain's close neighbour Portugal have often been considered one of Europe's leaders in wave energy, along with the UK, whilst the Spanish have made their mark in the solar power industry, in particular with concentrated solar power. The first commercial scale concentrating solar power plant in Europe is based in Spain. the 11MW power plant was designed to produce 23 GWh of electricity per year, enough to supply a population of 10,000.

Elsewhere, Trina Solar Ltd has established a European regional headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland, which commenced initial operations as of January 2010.

Trina Solar hopes to be closer to "key established solar markets, allow additional logistical support and provide enhanced service to the company's strategic partners and customers."

Related Articles:

Portugal: A pioneer in wave energy? | Smartgrid at forefront of German energy plans | Northern European Supergrid

Daniel Jones

Daniel is a Politics and Philosophy graduate from Cardiff University where he also worked as a section editor on the award winning student newspaper. After university he joined an IT support company where he was a B2B online writer. He loves anything to do with sport and joined GDS in July 2009.

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