Wave Energy Device News

A first-of-a-kind commercially-ready offshore wave power generation device is soon to be completed thanks to the experts from Finnish-based wave energy technology developer AW-Energy. The team has deployed its WaveRoller device offshore at Peniche, a seaside municipality and a city in Portugal.Extended sea trials are being used to fine-tune the WaveRoller’s control system to maximize its performance and yield. Engineers are also monitoring the device’s performance using the company’s…

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) is providing $181,000 funding to support Bombora Wave Power (Bombora) to complete a detailed cost of energy study for its Wave Energy Convertor (WEC). Bombora’s WEC design uses a responsive rolling membrane fitted to a long concrete arm resting on the sea floor. The membrane pressurises air, which is passed through a turbine to generate electricity. ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht said harnessing energy from the ocean required determination, ingenuity and time. ‘Bombora has been developing its innovative wave energy device for five years. This study is an opportunity for Bombora to prove the case for its technology and continue the journey towards a commercial solution that could strengthen Australia’s position as a leader in wave power…

When one thinks of offshore renewable energy, one usually thinks of offshore wind. For the first time progress is being made in the U.S. to develop offshore wind resources. The first steel foundation jacket has been placed in the ocean floor to support the Deepwater Wind project off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island. (See www.dwwind.com/press/#/1). But recently, progress is also being made in the development of tidal and wave energy resources closer to shore, which are known as marine hydrokinetic or MHK resources.

BioPower Systems Pty Ltd (BioPower) has finished constructing its prototype wave power unit to be installed off the coast of Port Fairy, Victoria, later this year. ARENA CEO Ivor Frischknecht congratulated BioPower on the achievement, which would advance the renewable wave energy industry in Australia. “The $21 million project, supported by $11 million ARENA funding, aims to move BioPower’s bioWAVE technology towards commercialisation,” Mr Frischknecht said. “If successfully installed, it will be the second ARENA supported wave energy device supplying energy to a major Australian grid, feeding 250kW of renewable energy into the National Electricity Market. “The bioWAVE unit is a 26 metre high steel structure that sways back and forth, mostly below the surface of the ocean.

In the continuing quest to harvest efficient, renewable energy from the power of the world’s tides, an organization called Sustainable Marine Energy’s announced that its PLAT-O tidal energy platform has successfully completed its first field trials. Despite the tremendous power and predictability of the world’s waves and tides, efforts to successfully build and bring to market a device to harness, store and transmit power in an efficient manner have been largely unsuccessful in the commercial sense.

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…

Northwest Energy Innovations deploys first wave energy converter at National Marine Renewable Energy Center, off Oregon coast. After a multi-day installation operation, Northwest Energy Innovations (NWEI), a Portland-based company, has successfully installed a wave energy device off the coast of Newport, Oregon. The device, known as Wave Energy Technology-New Zealand (WET-NZ), is now deployed at the Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center’s (NNMREC) open ocean test facility.

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTT) launched of a new technology initiative to enhance the efficiency of its patented PowerBuoy wave energy systems under its existing “WavePort” project. OPT will be working with a consortium of European companies and institutions to advance the energy conversion system of the PowerBuoy device through the development of a new wave prediction model. The new system will assess the characteristics of each incoming wave before it reaches the PowerBuoy wave power station, thereby providing more time for the electronic tuning capability to react. It is expected that this will significantly boost the power output of the PowerBuoy and reduce cost per MW hour of energy produced.

Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTT) announced financial results for its fiscal fourth quarter and year ended April 30, 2011. • Contract backlog increased to a record $8.9 million as of April 30, 2011. This reflects $10.3 million of new orders brought in during fiscal year 2011, including recent US Department of Energy (“DOE”) awards for the PB150 program in Reedsport, Oregon and for development of the next generation PB500 PowerBuoy. • Revenue increased by 31% for the twelve months ended April 30, 2011 compared to fiscal 2010, reflecting orders from the US Navy, DOE and the United Kingdom’s Technology Strategy Board. • Achieved Lloyd’s Register certification for the PB150 PowerBuoy design…

Scottish marine energy technology developer, AWS Ocean Energy, has started testing its new wave energy device in Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The Inverness based company has deployed a 1/9th scale of its AWS-III device, a ring-shaped multi-cell surface-floating wave power system, the result of almost two years of intensive research and development work. AWS Ocean Energy is aiming to deploy a full-system prototype AWS-III during 2012 and a pre-commercial demonstrator plant during 2013.