CTC Marine, which is part of the global Trico Marine Group headquarted in Texas, will handle the load out and installation of Wave Hub’s 25km armoured subsea cable, and the deployment of the hub itself on the seabed in 50m of water.
The £7M contract was awarded following a competitive tender and was announced at today’s (May 19) All Energy exhibition and conference in Aberdeen.
Wave Hub is creating the world’s largest test site for wave energy technology by building a grid-connected socket on the seabed, 16km off the coast of Cornwall, to which wave power devices can be connected and their performance evaluated.
The £42M project has been developed by the SWRDA and is a cornerstone of its strategy to develop a world class marine energy industry in South West England.
, said: “The award of this contract is a significant milestone for Wave Hub and it mean s we’re all systems go for deployment this summer,” said Jim Price, Wave Hub’s head of procurement at the SWRDA. “The CTC team has already carried out some onshore surveys at Hayle and will be fully mobilised next month.”
CTC Marine, based in Darlington, County Durham, will be responsible for laying the 1300 tonne cable, and deploying the 12 tonne Wave Hub some 16km offshore. The operation will include burying the cable on the beach at Hayle where it comes ashore and for the first 6km offshore using a 45-tonne underwater trenching machine that crawls along the seabed, burying the cable as it goes using a high-pressure jet of water.
Further out to sea, where the seabed is more rocky, the cable will be held in place by a combination of rocks and 176 concrete ‘mattresses’ measuring 6mx6m and weighing up to four and half tonnes each.
Wave Hub is being funded with £12.5M from the South West RDA, £20M from the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme and £9.5M from the UK government.
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