MARMOK-A-5

MARMOK-A-5 is an offshore electrical power generator that uses wave energy to create electricity. This device is a spar buoy installed in the maritime testing site BiMEP, in the Bay of Biscay.^[1][2][3] It is the first grid-connected maritime generator in Spain, and one of the first in the world.

Developed by the Basque company Oceantec Energias Marinas inside the European project OPERA or Open Sea Wave Operating Experience to Reduce Energy Cost,^[4] it is delivering electrical energy to the grid since December 2016. The buoy is located in the ocean, 4 km from the coastline and is connected to the sea with a submarine electrical cable. With a nominal power of 30 kW, the principal aim of the MARMOK-A-5 device is obtaining results in the way of designing a new generation cost effective high power marine energy generator.^[5]

Principle

The operation principle of MARMOK-A-5 is a point absorber OWC (Oscillating Water Column). The device is 5 m (20 ft) in diameter and a length (or height) of 42 m (140 ft),^[6] with 6 m (20 ft) above the water. It has a weight of 162.2 tons.^[7] The buoy is floating in around 90 m water depth and is tied to the sea bed with a mooring system based on anchors. This wave energy converter has demonstrated its robustness surviving difficult environmental conditions with waves as big as 14 m (50 ft).^[8]

The "Karratu" mooring system used is one cell of a shared mooring system. This is designed to allow each device to move freely while reducing the number of moorings needed for an array or wave farm, thereby reducing costs.^[7]

History

As noted above, the concept was initially developed by Oceantec within the European OPERA project. The 30 kW device was first deployed in October 2016 until June 2018, when it was refurbished and redeployed in October 2018 for a further year.^[8][9] The device was installed in approximately 85 m (280 ft) water depth.^[7]

In 2018, Oceantec was acquired by Spanish engineering company IDOM.^[10]

Further development in EuropeWave programme

IDOM were one of seven companies awarded pre-commercial procurement funding in December 2021 for Stage 1 of the EuropeWave programme, to further develop the device concept.^[11] In September 2022, they progressed to Stage 2 with additional funding for a Front-End Engineering and Design study of a scale-prototype to be tested at sea.^[12] IDOM were one of three concepts that progressed to Stage 3, with a share of the €13.4m budget to develop and test a device at BiMEP for a year.^[13]

In December 2024, IDOM announced they were planning to re-deploy the MARMOK-A-5 at BiMEP in summer 2025.^[14]