Wave technology adoption has received a boost after Scottish tech firm Mocean Energy announced the start of trials of its new Blue X energy prototype.

Mocean’s prototype trials are taking place at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) off the coast of Orkney after being towed from Kirkwall.

The 38-tonne, 20-metre-long wave machine now sits in the EMEC’s Scapa Flow test site where it has been successfully moored and commissioned for initial sea trials.

Mocean will now test the power production of the prototype, and compare results against the numerical predictions, while also testing operations including towing, installation, removal, and access at sea.

The reason for the tests is to establish the tech’s efficiency with hopes that Blue X will help to generate clean energy for Scotland in the future.

“This is a very exciting moment as we put our first prototype to test at sea. Following successful installation on Friday, Blue X generated its first power and continued to generate power, charging batteries, throughout the weekend,” said Cameron McNatt, Mocean Energy’s managing director.

“I’d like to thank all of our local Orkney-based partners including EMEC, Leask Marine, Heddles, Orkney Harbour Authority and Orcades Marine for the help we have received to date.

“We believe our technology is ideally suited to a number of offshore operations, where it can make a direct contribution to net zero goals. Longer-term, we think grid-scale machines will be able to tap into deep ocean waves to generate significant quantities of clean energy”

The device is standalone and operated wirelessly, with 4G connection enabled for sending commands and downloading data from shore.

Mocean Energy says it plans to connect the device to a subsea battery by next year which will be used to power a remotely operated autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) – “with potential applications offshore”.

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Mocean Energy has received £3.3 million in funding from Wave Energy Scotland (WES) to test its The Blue X prototype through the Novel Wave Energy Converter programme and supported by Interreg North-West Europe’s Ocean DEMO project.

Tim Hurst, managing director of Wave Energy Scotland, said: “This test programme coincides with the real prospect of a UK market support mechanism for marine energy, which could enable Britain’s wave and tidal sector to take a global lead at a time when the whole world is seeking new ways to create a net zero future.

“This is technology developed right here in Scotland, supported by a mature UK supply chain that can exploit the huge global market potential for wave energy and bring significant economic benefits.”