Following on from the grand opening of the University of Western Australia’s (UWA) Great Southern Marine Research Facility (GSMRF) and its main occupant the Wave Energy Research Centre (WERC), AOEG is excited to share the Centre’s current progress.
The UWA’s Wave Energy Research Centre (WERC), with nodes in Perth and Albany, has been progressing work from surface to seabed and intensified collaboration nationally and internationally.
Dr Wiebke Ebeling, Centre Manager for WERC, provided the following update:
The Blue Economy CRC is commencing research operations with 17 scoping projects – four of which the WERC will participate in. These four scoping projects are:
- Robust site selection procedures and environmental and operational monitoring strategies, including the application of remote monitoring technologies.
- Operational modelling for offshore aquaculture and energy.
- Multipurpose offshore/high energy platforms: concepts and applications.
- Offshore/high energy sustainable hybrid power systems.
VIDEO: “Surface to Seabed” – Research into wave energy and ocean renewables in Australia’s South-West.
Dr Ebeling continues: “The Integrated Marine Observing System’s New Technology Proving Program, awarded to the WERC for low-cost wave buoys, has already yielded excellent data from Sofar Ocean’s freely drifting ‘spotter’ buoys; for example, in a recent storm off the WA coast.”
“The WERC is also performing geotechnical modelling for Fugro Marine Australia, to explore the behaviour of suction bucket foundations in sand. The ultimate client for this project is the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), with the project forming part of its Proposed Safety and Technology Verification Research Projects: Wind Power Structure Research.”
The WERC also plans to strengthen ties with Oregon State University and the Pacific Marine Energy Center (PMEC) as part of a Fulbright Scholarship, one of several U.S. cultural exchange programs designed to improve intercultural relations and diplomacy.
Find out more about the Wave Energy Research Centre (WERC) in Albany, Western Australia.