E.ON - P2 Pelamis Wave Machine

Developing innovative marine energy off the coast of Orkney

•  E.ON is currently testing a P2 Pelamis wave machine, the first of its kind in Britain, off the west coast of Orkney at the European Marine Energy Centre.
• This innovative technology is at an early testing stage, but in certain conditions the Pelamis machine has recorded bursts of power in excess of 1MW. The amount of electricity it generates is expected to rise substantially as the project progresses.
• The machine was named Vágr Atferð (Old Norse for wave power) by Orkney schoolboy Matthew Rendall, and was officially launched by Rt Hon Alex Salmond, the First Minister of Scotland.
• It will be joined by a second P2 Pelamis owned by ScottishPower Renewables later in 2011.

Les Atkinson is an Operations Engineer and part of E.ON's marine energy team. He joined the project in March 2011 and is responsible for looking after E.ON's operational marine assets - of which Pelamis is the first.

His eight years' experience in the Navy has stood him in good stead at E.ON and he has a long-standing passion for all things marine. He believes marine energy could be "the next big thing" and is committed to harnessing this untapped resource in the best way possible.