Wave Hub Grillage

Wave Hub is creating the world’s largest test site for wave energy technology by building a grid-connected socket on the seabed, 16 kilometres off the coast of Cornwall, to which wave power devices can be connected and their performance evaluated.

The £42 million project has been developed by the South West RDA and is a cornerstone of its strategy to develop a world class marine energy industry in South West England.

The cable, which weighs 1,300 tonnes and cost £7 million to make, is being spooled directly from a local site onto the cable laying ship MV Nordica at a rate of 400 metres per hour. The delicate operation is running 24 hours a day and will take around five days to complete.

MCC were requested to construct at short notice an 80 tonne foundation grillage for the carousel that would ultimately carry the cable for this prestigious project.

The grillage was fabricated in 6 unique sections which were then transported by road to the vessel.

All works were completed on schedule enabling the spooling operations to commence ahead of programmed schedule.