CorPower Ocean, designer of wave energy systems, appointed Miguel Silva as head of its Portuguese operation.
The news comes shortly after CorPower revealed plans for a new $18.1m R&D, Manufacturing and Service Center in Viana do Castelo, Portugal, becoming a focus for the firm’s pioneering HiWave-5 Project with a showcase pilot wave farm planned in Aguçadoura.
Silva will oversee CorPower’s activities in Portugal, including composite hull development, manufacturing and assembly of WECs (Wave Energy Converters) as well as operations to install and maintain wave arrays offshore.
His most recent position involved extensive composite design and manufacturing as plant manager of the Enercon blade factory in Viana do Castelo.
“Our mission is to build a world-class knowledge center in Viana for the development and mass fabrication of WECs,” said Silva. “We are currently laying the foundations for future high-volume operations. This involves collecting substantial amounts of data to 'prove' our technology, with an overall aim of successfully completing the demonstration phase with HiWave-5 with a competitive and certified product. Following this, we plan to expand our fabrication and service capacity to be prepared for widescale supply of our new generation WECs.”
Corpower Portugal plans to create 15 highly qualified engineering jobs in the next years, covering composite design and manufacturing, mechanical, electrical, control and marine operations. The first job profiles have been advertised here.