Santiago – Enel Green Power’s experimentation in the marine energy sector has arrived in Chile, where both Enel’s renewable energy company and DCNS, a key player in the industry, were selected by the Chilean government’s economic development organisation CORFO to create the Marine Energy Research and Innovation-MERIC, a global centre of excellence for the development of new technology. MERIC’S research and development work will focus on marine energy sources such as tidal power and wave power in the Pacific Ocean off the Chilean coast. MERIC will implement an innovative, integrated approach that includes the installation of a wave energy converter that will serve as a validation test bench and will compare theoretical results with real world data. The centre’s researchers will assess marine energy resources, characterize sites, look more closely at bio-fouling, bio-corrosion and the environmental and social impact of the technology, as well as seeing how it can adapt to extreme ocean conditions. (9colonne)
