The Shetland Project
Aegir Wave Power’s immediate ambition is to develop and build a commercial wave farm off the southwest coast of Shetland, near St. Ninian's Isle. The proposed farm will consist of up to 14 Pelamis machines with a combined rated power of 10MW. The machines will be arranged in rows to form an array or wave farm. The wave farm will be connected back to the Shetland mainland via a subsea cable link.
The farm will occupy roughly 2km2 with its exact location being determined on completion of survey work, resource measurements and consultations. The area of 'search' stretches from 2 to 10km from shore and is shown on the map on the bottom left (click the image to enlarge it).
The farm is likely to be built in stages with the first machines, planned to be commissioned in 2016 with some construction work potentially beginning in 2015. The timing is dependent on a number of things including planning consents for the project and the delivery of the planned HVDC connection between Shetland and the Scottish mainland.
In May 2011, Aegir Wave Power were successful in securing an agreement for lease from The Crown Estate, who own the seabed around the UK.
Photo top left: View from Shetland Mainland, near St. Ninian's Isle, looking out towards the sourthern boundary of the search area which sits offshore of the islands.
Photo bottom left: Map indicating the project area of search and location of wave measurement buoy.