Wave energy developer CorPower Ocean has announced the successful installation of the first commercial-scale UMACK anchor to support the HiWave-5 demonstration project.
UMACK will anchor the CorPower C4 Wave Energy Converter and has been installed 4km off the coast of Aguçadoura, in northern Portugal.
UMACK technology was developed by a European consortium led by CorPower Ocean to improve upon the vertical holding capacity of pile-type anchors, while also reducing cost and carbon footprint.
CorPower Ocean senior engineer Ian Denton said in a statement: “We installed the pile using a 500MU vibro-hammer supplied by Dieseko, supported by a heave-compensated crane on the Maersk Achiever vessel.
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“The installation method works by vibrating the anchor into the sea bed, offering a high speed, low-noise solution which minimises impact on the marine environment.
“The success of the project hinged on careful planning and close collaboration with partners from Dieseko and Maersk Supply Service, in addition to nearly four years developing and scale-testing the innovative UMACK anchor technology. The outcome demonstrates the readiness of deploying this anchor at industrial scale.”
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According to CorPower Ocean, the UMACK anchor has the following specifications:
- 1.6 metres in diameter
- 24 meters long
- 43 tonnes in weight
- Ultimate tensile capacity in excess of 15MN
- Includes a pile tip design to reduce soil resistance during vibro-installation
- Durable enough to resist more than 100 million load cycles
“Pile anchors, as used for the UMACK installation, are likely to be one of the main anchoring systems used for marine energy devices, in particular in mooring systems for commercial floating wind farms. This innovative technology brings significant added value such as cost reduction. We are looking forward to continuing to support such innovations and to working with CorPower Ocean on future developments,” said Jonas Munch Agerskov, chief commercial officer at Maersk Supply Service.
Initially, the Aguçadoura site will host one CorPower C4 WEC device, which will later form part of a larger four-system array, touted as one of the world’s first grid-connected wave farms.
