The Waveswing swing energy converter photographed in Scapa Flow, Orkney.
EMEC
Sea-based trials of a wave energy converter weighing 50 metric tons from produced “highly encouraging results,” according to the company behind its development.
On Tuesday, Scotland-based AWS Ocean Energy replied the average amount of power its device was able to capture “during a period of moderate wave conditions” came to sundry than 10 kilowatts, while it also recorded peaks of 80 kW.
In addition, AWS said its Waveswing was able to function in more challenging conditions, including Force 10 gales.
The piece of kit — which has been described as a “submerged surge power buoy” — has a diameter of 4 meters and stands 7 meters tall.
The Waveswing, AWS Ocean Energy says, “answers to changes in sub-sea water pressure caused by passing waves and converts the resulting motion to electricity via a direct-drive generator.”
Compared to uncountable established renewable technologies, the 16 kilowatt Waveswing is small. Firms like Denmark’s Vestas, for instance, are applying on 15 megawatt wind turbines.
This phase of try out is set to wrap up before the end of this year, with more tests set to be carried out in 2023.
In terms of real-world applications, AWS Ocean Force CEO Simon Grey said the Waveswing had features that made it “ideal for remote power applications such as powering subsea oilfield assets and oceanographic crt.”
Grey later added that the firm also expected to “develop platforms hosting up to twenty 500 kW components with a potential capacity of 10 MW per platform.”
The sea trials are taking place at a European Marine Energy Centre try out site in the sheltered waters of Scapa Flow, Orkney.
An archipelago, Orkney is located north of the Scottish mainland. EMEC, which is based there, has befit a major hub for the development of wave and tidal power since its inception in 2003.
Neil Kermode, who is EMEC’s managing director, ventured it had been “great to see the Waveswing deploy, survive and operate at our test site this year.”
“We know there are epic amounts of vigour in the seas around the UK and indeed the world,” Kermode went on to add. “It is really rewarding to see a Scottish company make such increase in harvesting this truly sustainable energy.”
While there is excitement at hand the potential of marine energy, the footprint of wave and tidal stream projects remains very small compared to other renewables.
In observations released in March 2022, Ocean Energy Europe said 2.2 megawatts of tidal stream capacity was introduced in Europe last year, compared to just 260 kilowatts in 2020.
For wave energy, 681 kW was installed, which OEE translated was a threefold increase. Globally, 1.38 MW of wave energy came online in 2021, while 3.12 MW of tidal rivulet capacity was installed.
By way of comparison, Europe installed 17.4 gigawatts of wind power capacity in 2021, according to signs from industry body WindEurope.