Orkney-based European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) has agreed to design and implement a testing programme for Norway-based Seabased Group for its latest-generation wave-to-grid technology, which will pave the way for its certification and subsequent manufacture.

The collaboration has been part-funded by the Interreg North Sea Region Ocean Energy Scale-up Alliance (OESA) project, which is an accelerator programme for the deployment of large-scale marine-energy pilot projects.

Seabased (www.seabased.com) has already proved its wave energy converter technology and its wave-to-grid system in multi-generator demonstration parks in Sweden and Ghana. Working with EMEC is seen as a big step forward for the company.

EMEC (www.emec.org.uk) will review its technology and advise on options to meet its certification objectives.

Independent third-party certification of the design and technical performance of the Seabased system will ensure that the design meets the highest global standards.

Laurent Albert, CEO of the Seabased Group, said: “EMEC is a premier facility, accredited for marine-energy testing. It understands our industry, and we trust its expertise.

“Certification is a complex process that marks a new level of maturity in an industry whose time has come to take its place among renewables.”