Abstract: For marine renewable energy to be de-risked and be seen as an attractive investment, wave and tidal stream energy extraction technologies need to be rigorously tested and certified. New large facilities and infrastructure will be required to perform this advanced testing. In response to this Narec is building the world’s first drive-train test facility dedicated to the requirements of the marine renewable’s sector.
The €15.4m Nautilus Test Facility will provide a 3MW drive system capable of testing the complete drive train, electrical generation, control and support systems of marine renewable devices. The Nautilus rig will allow the key components and assemblies (including drive shafts, bearings, gearbox, generator and power converters), to be thoroughly tested before deployment in the open sea. The test rig will have the ability to mechanically and electrically load the complete drive train with the full envelope of load cases, including side loads on to shafts and bearings and grid faults to the electrical systems.
