09 February 2009 12:50
E.ON on the crest of a wave

E.ON, one of the UK’s leading renewable generators, has today announced that it will shortly be generating electricity from the waves.  

As part of the company’s staged approach towards developing the potential of marine energy, E.ON will buy, install and test a wave power device in UK waters.   

The initial test programme will be based around a single 750kW Pelamis P2 device that is currently being built in Edinburgh, and which will be installed and tested at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney.  

E.ON will become the first utility to test a marine energy device at EMEC, which is the only grid connected marine test facility in Europe.

The Pelamis device is expected to become fully operational in 2010.  The first year of testing will be an extended commissioning period, with the next two years designed to improve the device’s working capabilities.

Amaan Lafayette, Marine Development Manager at E.ON, said: “This is an incredibly exciting project that we hope will contribute towards the commercialisation of this technology, both in the UK and in the rest of the world.

“We recognise that much work has to follow before we can be certain that marine energy will fulfil its potential but the success of this device will give us the confidence to move to the next phase of commercialisation which is larger arrays around the UK coastline.

“It’s only by actually getting devices in the water that we can test the potential for wave power in the UK, which is why this is such an important step.”

This is the first time the Pelamis P2 device will have been tested anywhere in the world. The new device will be 180m long, around 50m longer than the existing Pelamis P1, and is designed to be considerably more efficient than the first generation device.

The scheme forms part of E.ON’s renewable development portfolio in the UK that, if built, would be able to provide power for around a million homes and to displace two million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year.

Ends

Notes to editors:

·       E.ON is one of the UK’s leading power and gas companies – generating and distributing electricity, and retailing power and gas – and is part of the E.ON group, the world's largest investor-owned power and gas company. We employ around 17,000 people in the UK;

·       E.ON’s retail business is a leading energy supplier in the UK with around 5.5 million electricity and gas customers, covering domestic, SME and industrial. E.ON also offers central heating and boiler care;

·       We’re one of the leading green generators in the UK, with 21 wind farms located from Cornwall to Northern Ireland. We also burn biomass material mixed with coal in two of our power stations and have recently completed one of the UK’s largest dedicated biomass power stations at Lockerbie. Combined, our renewable portfolio generates enough green energy to power the homes in a city the size of Manchester;

·       Our green development portfolio could power over a million homes and displace the emission of almost two million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year by building new onshore and offshore wind farms, biomass power stations, and tidal stream and wave power schemes;

·       Our target is to cut the carbon released by each kW of electricity we generate by 10% between 2005-2012, having already reduced it by 20% since 1990;

·       We have 1,300MW of renewable capacity under development.

For more information contact:

Jonathan Smith on 024 7618 3676 or jonathan.smith@eon-uk.com