Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BIMEP) has recently signed a contract with wave energy technology development company Wave Swell Energy that will allow the testing of its newly designed turbine at the facilities of the wave energy plant located in Mutriku.

Wave Swell Energy Limited (WSE) is an Australian developer of patented wave energy conversion technology. Its commitment to the ecosystem of marine energy testing in the Basque Country aims to accelerate the deployment of its technology in commercial projects throughout Europe. It is an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) technology device similar to those currently employed at Mutriku but offering new features. This system will undergo several phases of testing and rehearsal until its final deployment in Mutriku. Thus, it was connected for several years in Australia and large-scale prototyping tests were conducted at Oregon State University, where they showed that performance is maintained when the technology is integrated into a breakwater.

At this stage of development, the Mutriku plant offers the possibility of combining the conditions previously tested in laboratory in a real marine environment, and with all the necessary resources to perform the analysis of viability, operation and performance.

The Mutriku wave power plant was launched in 2011 and since then it is the only one to produce electric power by means of wave power in an uninterrupted manner. In addition, this plant is a reference test laboratory that has hosted in recent years the main technological developments carried out in the field of turbines.