Wave Energy Converters News

CorPower, a Swedish developer of wave energy converters, is establishing an R&D, Manufacturing & Service Centre for wave energy converters in Viana do Castelo, Portugal.The location has been chosen to support CorPower’s demonstration project HiWave-5, and for the long-term development of supply and service capacity for commercial wave energy farms. "Several factors have contributed to choosing Viana do Castelo for this investment. A strong competence pool of engineers from adjacent sectors such as offshore wind…

From racing scows on the inland lakes of Minnesota to graduating from the United States Merchant Marine Academy to taking the helm of Glosten, Morgan Fanberg has led a ‘maritime life.’ We caught up with Fanberg in his Seattle office to discuss the path ahead for one of the U.S.’ most progressive and respected naval architecture and marine engineering firms.Morgan Fanberg has always been a ‘maritime guy,’ but his early maritime aspirations centered on racing sailboats. “I went to St.

For Marine Technology Reporter's (MTR) 14th Annual "MTR100" - a look at 100 innovators and technologies in the subsea space - MTR editor-at-large Elaine Maslin reports on five companies and technologies that are worth the watch for the remainder of 2019 and beyond. For the full edition, see https://magazines.marinelink.com/nwm/MarineTechnology/201907/Blue Logic: Entering a new eraCompletely new modes of operation are entering the underwater domain for oil and gas operations and…

Wave-generated power could be considered the Rodney Dangerfield of offshore renewable energy sources; it gets no respect. There have been a number of high-profile, expensive failures that have conspired to give the sector a poor reputation despite a number of engineering advances. A new entrant is SurfWEC offering a patented “surf-making” Wave Energy Converter which has been in development since 2007. Its developers promise it will stand out from the field and perform where others have failed. How?

Bureau Veritas has published a set of guidelines, NI 631 “Certification Scheme for Marine Renewable Energy Technologies”, addressing a broad spectrum of the needs of marine renewable energy (MRE) businesses and projects. ‘The marine renewables sector is growing in importance and the complexities are increasing as the sector continues to mature’, comments Matthieu de Tugny, Senior Vice President, Offshore, Bureau Veritas. ‘Bureau Veritas is taking a broad leadership position in the development of cleaner energy projects and technologies in the marine and offshore environments.

The new service specification DNVGL-SE-0163 Certification of tidal turbines and arrays is being published along with a new technical standard for DNVGL-ST-0164 Tidal turbines. Although the service specification is a new document it is built on the foundations of DNV-OSS-312 Certification of Tidal and Wave Energy Converters and the GL Guideline for the Certification of Ocean Energy Converters. Those two legacy documents have been important elements in the development of the tidal industry up to date but the industry needs have changed as it matures. The commercial impacts on developers become greater as the size of turbines and scale of planned arrays increases. Therefore more attention is paid to the reduction of risk and the processes through which risk is controlled and mitigated.

While the recent swoon in world oil and gas prices has predictably cooled a number of offshore renewable projects, there is a palpable change regarding the way in which the world views renewable energy. Renewable energy projects, at one time merely serving as window dressing, are slowly weaving their way into the mainstream energy mix, with European countries, namely the U.K., leading the way. In November world leaders will arrive in Paris to negotiate a new global agreement on climate change…

Lockheed Martin says it has signed a contract with Victorian Wave Partners Ltd. to begin developing the world’s largest wave energy project yet. The 62.5-megawatt peak power wave energy generation project will be built off the coast of Victoria, Australia, using Ocean Power Technologies' (OPT) PowerBuoy® wave energy converter technology. The company’s PowerBuoy wave generation technology uses a "smart," ocean-going buoy to convert wave energy into low-cost, clean electricity. The buoy moves up and down with the rising and falling of waves.

WaveRoller, the wave energy device created by wave energy developer AW-Energy has received independent performance verification, taking the wave power industry one step closer to commercialization. WaveRoller received its validation after operating in fully exposed ocean environment during testing campaigns in 2012 and 2013. AW-Energy submitted detailed data covering wave conditions and device performance for external verification. Independent verification of the WaveRoller power…

Dr Andrew Garrad, Non-Executive Chairman of GL Garrad Hassan, awarded the prize to Dr. Martinez in recognition of his work examining the potential use of Direct Current (DC) grids in offshore wind farms. By introducing high frequency power transformers in the power stage of wind turbines and a fully DC integrated system for the elimination of power stage redundancies, the thesis aims to reduce the overall cost and power loss of offshore wind farms. Dr. Martínez, an Associate Professor with the Department of Electronics and Telecommunication at the University of the Basque Country…

IHC Merwede establishes IHC Tidal Energy and acquires Wave Rotor technology. On 30 May 2012, IHC Merwede signed an agreement to acquire Wave Rotor technology from Ecofys, which is renowned for its expertise in sustainable energy solutions. The official signing was made by Willem Steenge, Managing Director of IHC Tidal Energy, and Manon Janssen, Managing Director of Ecofys. Wave Rotor technology, which will be managed by the newly established company IHC Tidal Energy, enables IHC Merwede to further secure its position in the renewable market.

Alstom and SSE Renewables signed a new joint venture agreement to develop the Costa Head Wave Project, an up to 200 MW wave energy site located north of mainland Orkney, in The Crown Estate’s Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters Strategic Area. Alstom and SSE Renewables will work together to obtain the necessary permits and intend to populate the site with AWS-III wave energy converters, a technology currently under development by AWS Ocean Energy Ltd, in which Alstom acquired a 40% equity share in June 2011. The Costa Head site is located in water depths of 60 – 75m approximately 5km to the north of Orkney Mainland. SSE Renewables and Alstom propose to carry out detailed site surveys and an environmental impact assessment (EIA)…