INDUSTRY PROFILE NAREC Streams Ahead
With more wave and tidal stream devices installed in the UK than the rest of the world and an abundance of marine energy resource, the National Renewable Energy Centre (Narec) has over the past ten years played a pioneering role in developing and commercialising the industry.
Narec’s marine and subsea testing facilities coupled with their research and development expertise has been key to the industry overcoming demanding technical and environmental challenges and helping the sector to achieve its current successes.
FOCUS
With greater focus on proving technology, speeding up the development process and reducing costs before devices are installed offshore, Narec’s controlled environment for accelerated life testing and proof of concept trials have attracted a number of device developers at various stages of development; helping to move technologies forward and bring innovative technologies to market much quicker.
LOCATION
Situated on the river Blyth in Northumberland at the site where the world’s first dedicated aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal was built, Narec has adapted the three dry dock facilities to create a controlled onshore environment to perform prototype development, equipment trials, prove installation techniques, performance verification and witness tests for the offshore energy sector.
CONTROLLED ENVIRONMENT All of the docks offer Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractors a real-life playground to trial their new technologies in a controlled environment, such as, novel pipeline and cable infrastructure installations, helping to reduce the risk of failure offshore.
DOCK 1
The smallest of the three docks and contains a 50m long wave flume, for the testing of scaled prototypes. At 7m deep the flume is deeper than most facilities in Europe and can produce a range of different waves and sea states with waves up to 1.2m high.
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www.wavetidalenergynetwork.co.uk
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