Energy major Shell has joined the Renewables for Subsea Power (RSP) collaborative project which is currently powering subsea equipment off the coast of Orkney through a combination of wave power and subsea energy storage.

The $2.5 million demonstrator initiative, which is currently nearing 12 months in the water, has connected the Blue X wave energy converter—built by Edinburgh company Mocean Energy—with a Halo underwater battery storage system developed by Aberdeen intelligent energy management specialists Verlume.

The fully operational project, located 5 km east of Orkney Mainland, aims to show how green technologies can be combined to provide reliable low carbon power and communications to subsea equipment, offering a cost-effective alternative to umbilical cables, which are carbon intensive with long lead times to procure and install.

The new investment has come via the Shell Technology—Marine Renewable Program, a global R&D group pursuing the mission of finding, screening, testing, and developing marine renewable energy technologies to achieve more value with lower emissions and help build the critical energy infrastructure for the Blue Economy to grow and thrive.

They will now join project leads Mocean Energy and Verlume, alongside industry players Baker Hughes, Serica Energy, Harbour Energy, Transmark Subsea, PTTEP, TotalEnergies and the Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC).

Joining RSP offers Shell access to all data and results from the current test program, alongside a feasibility assessment of the use of RSP technology at a location of their choice.

“This new investment by Shell underscores the international interest in our pan-industry project and we look forward to working with them and exploring potential new applications for RSP’s combined technologies,” said Ian Crossland, Commercial Director at Mocean Energy.