By Renewable Energy Focus staff

The Excalibur jack-up barge is now stationed at the European Marine Energy Centre’s (EMEC) Billia Croo site, where the Oyster will be installed later in June.

The jack-up barge will drill piles into the seabed to provide the foundation for the second generation wave power device, which is due to arrive in late July.

The next phase will see the Oyster wave power device being fixed to the seabed piles around 500 m from shore.

Martin McAdam, CEO of Aquamarine Power, says: “The installation of our second full-scale Oyster will be another major milestone for Aquamarine Power.”

He adds: “We have been made to feel very welcome in Orkney since we installed our first Oyster at Billia Croo in 2009. We have worked with more than 30 local firms and spent directly over £2 million in the local economy since we began working in Orkney.

“We believe wave energy offers a very positive future to Orkney and we look forward to continuing to build on those relationships with our second Oyster project.”