1. Open sea test centre DESCRIPTION
• 4 Cables, 5MW each, connected to the grid
• Water depth m
• 24/7 Surveillance
and emergency response
• Close enough for fast access
• Privileged ocean climate
Hs<1m
20%
1m<Hs<5m
78%
5m<Hs 2%
To give you an idea of our mission, BiMEP was primarily developed as a research infrastructure for the demonstration and validation of marine renewable energy devices. One aim was to position the Basque Country and Spain as international marine energy leaders, and another was to foment a technological and industrial sector around this promising new source of energy.
So, in addition to operating as a test centre for wave energy devices, through our infrastructure, we also act as a driver for local Enterprise.
Ok, a few more technical details.
I’d like to mention that we have:
4 cables, 5MW each, connected to the grid
Water depth of between 50 and 90 metres
In terms of surveillance and emergency response, we have 24/7 coverage
An advantage of our location is that we’re close enough to the shore for fast and easy access
But, perhaps, our biggest advantage is our priviledge wave conditions. As you can see, we have waves between 1 and 5 metres heigth most of the time. 20% of the year we have lees than 1 metre waves. And the rest of the time bigger than 5 metres waves.
Meaning we have ideal conditions for early prototype testing.