Join Our Study Tour to Orkney

You are invited to join our study tour and meet a variety of leading renewable players at Orkney, Scotland. Our focus will be on learning about wave and tidal power, renewable energy master programmes and hydrogen production, storage and use.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION!

This event has been postponed to late autumn or April 2021 to prevent the spread of the novel corona virus. If you subscribe to our newsletter you will receive an invitation to the event once a new date has been decided.

The Orkney Islands have some of the best conditions for renewable energy in Europe. Due to their location and exposure to wind, they are home to the highest concentration of small and micro wind turbines in the UK, as well as several larger community owned and commercial turbines.

Orkney has a renowned test site, placing them at the forefront of the development of marine renewables; or technologies that generate electricity for homes and businesses by harnessing the power of waves and tidal streams.

As the first centre of its kind to be created anywhere in the world, the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) offers developers the opportunity to test full scale grid connected prototype devices in unrivalled wave and tidal conditions. However, renewable energy production uptake has proved successful throughout the community of Orkney to the point where energy generation now exceeds Orkney’s own needs.

Production is greater than the capacity of Orkney’s existing grid connection to mainland Scotland. The different hydrogen projects on the islands offers a way to address these issues. There are several ongoing projects and they produce their own hydrogen both for transportation and heating.

The study trip will focus on wave and tidal energy, hydrogen production, storage and use, crossover aspects between the energy and ocean industries and collaboration between businesses, universities and communities. The delegation from Norway will be a mix of students, university staff, R&D-players, community organisations and different businesses related to the subject.

There will be scheduled time for individual meetings or business visits. The programme will be adjusted according to the participating businesses’ requests. Hence, we will connect you to relevant players in Orkney.

Programme

27 April

Travel to Kirkwall and Stromness

28 April

09:00 Welcome and presentation of GCE Ocean Technology, Ocean Hyway Cluster and other Norwegian players
09:30 International Centre for Island Technology (ICIT) - Renewable master programmes
10:00 European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) - Leading purpose-built, accredited open-sea testing facilities for wave and tidal energy converters
10:30 Break (including moving to library meeting room)
11:30 Orkney Renewable Energy Forum (OREF) - How the local businesses have created work and added value from ongoing hydrogen and renewable projects, Ian Gareth, Co-Chair OREF Board / Managing Director Aquatera
12:00-12:30 Orbital Marine Power - Energy production from tidal power device, Calum Miller, Principal Engineer & Hydrodynamics Manager
13:00 Lunch
14:00-15:00 For Orkney players: Presentation about Norwegian maritime hydrogen projects, marine renewable energy or other topics of interest
14:00-19:00 For Norwegian participants: Free time and individual meetings
19:00 Unformal evening gathering in Stromness with students, ICIT staff, local businesses and organisations

29 April

08:40 Bus Stromness-Kirkwall
09:00-09:20 Visit at hydrogen refuelling station
10:00 Orkney Islands Council - Overall orientation about effects and benefits from Orkney as a living lab for hydrogen and renewable energy, Adele Lidderdale, Hydrogen Project Officer
10:30 Surf ‘n’ Turf, Community Energy Scotland - Development of the BIG HIT project including hydrogen production, storage, transportation and use
11:00 Break
11:30 Presentation of HyDime-project
12:00-13:00 For Orkney players: Presentation about Norwegian maritime hydrogen projects, marine renewable energy or other topics of interest
12:00-13:00 For Norwegian participants: Free time and individual meetings
13:00-13:50 Lunch
14:15-17:15 Shapinsay excursion - Wind turbine hydrogen production site and the use of hydrogen for heating and transportation, Adrian Bird, Turbine Manager
18:00 Reception by Convener Harvey Johnston, Orkney Islands Council
22:30 Bus to ferry (departure for Aberdeen at 23:45)

30 April

Returning to Norway

Participation and Costs

The study tour is open for all Norwegian businesses with no participation fee for members of GCE Ocean Technology, Hub for Ocean and Ocean Hyway Cluster, who are prioritised participants. All other enrollments are handled after the first-come, first-served principle. Max 20 partcipants.

Participation fee for non-members is 3000,- NOK per person.

Participants pay their own expenses (i.e. travel, accommodation, food and drink) and order accommodation and plane tickets individually.

Learn more about GCE Ocean Technology Membership.

Registration

This event has been postponed to late autumn or April next year to prevent the spread of the novel corona virus. If you subscribe to our newsletter you will receive an invitation to the event once a new date has been decided.

Coronavirus update: There is great uncertainty about how the corona virus (Covid-19) will affect Norway in the coming weeks. This means that plans for our events may change. GCE Ocean Technology's main priority is that all our speakers and participants are safe at our events. We continue to monitor the situation closely, and will at all times relate to the current decisions of the Bergen Municipality and the Institute of Public Health (FHI) at large events. We will make ongoing reviews and provide necessary updates along the way. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us at post@gceocean.no.

The study tour is organised in collaboration with