Wave Energy Scotland

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Wave Energy Scotland (WES) is a technology development body[ clarification needed ] set up by the Scottish Government to facilitate the development of wave energy in Scotland. It was set up in 2015 and is a subsidiary of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) based in Inverness.

Contents

WES has managed numerous projects resulting from pre-commercial procurement funding calls in six main topic areas: power take-off, novel wave energy converters, structural materials and manufacturing processes, control systems, quick connection systems, and next generation wave energy. Each of these uses a stage-gate process, with fewer successful projects passing to later stages. WES has also commissioned eight landscaping studies in two phases. [1]

In 2020, together with the Basque Energy Agency (Ente Vasco de la Energía or EVE), WES set up the EuropeWave programme to develop and test the most promising wave energy technologies, of which three concepts will be tested at sea. This is supported by European Horizon 2020 funding.

Inception

The Scottish Government took positive action to support the ailing wave energy sector in Scotland, following the demise of one of the leading developers Pelamis Wave Power. The Energy Minister Fergus Ewing announced an initial budget for the body of £14.3 million over 13 months at the RenewableUK conference in February 2015. [2]

Organisation objectives

The original objectives for WES were set out by the Scottish Government as: [3]

Stage gate selections

The WES development programme uses a series of stage-gates to evaluate technology progress.

Through collaboration with the International Energy Agency's Ocean Energy Systems programme, Wave Energy Scotland has helped to develop "An International Evaluation and Guidance Framework for Ocean Energy Technology", first published in 2021. [4] This sets out a clear evaluation methodology for the technical development and cost-effectiveness of wave and tidal energy technologies. A second edition was published in October 2023, adding the important aspect of environmental acceptability which had been missing from the first draft. [5]

The framework consists of six sequential stages of development, which is equivalent to those used in the IEC guidelines for testing early stage WECs, [6] and can be linked to the widely-used Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale.

IEA-OES Evaluation Framework Stages
NameTRL
Stage 0Concept creation1
Stage 1Concept development2–3
Stage 2Design optimisation4
Stage 3Scaled demonstration5–6
Stage 4Commercial-scale single device demonstration7–8
Stage 5Commercial-scale array demonstration9

Project calls

The WES development programme uses a staged approach with projects progressing from concept (stage 1), through design (stage 2), to demonstration (stage 3). As of April 2024, WES has held funding calls to start five development programmes, listed below. [7] The successful projects in each stage are tabulated in List of projects funded by Wave Energy Scotland.

Call TitleLaunch DateCall ClosedBudgetNotice
Secondary energy conversion technologies (power take-off systems, PTO)19 March 201522 May 2015£7m MAR203890
Novel wave energy converters (NWEC)10 June 201513 August 2015up to £2.4m JUN211095
Structural materials and manufacturing processes (SMMP)15 July 20168 September 2016up to £3m JUL250786
Control systems (CS)5 April 201712 June 2017£660k APR279121
Quick Connection Systems (QCS)25 July 201916 September 2019£490k JUL361298

In 2023, a sixth area of Next Generation Wave Energy was introduced.

Power Take-off (PTO)

In March 2015, WES announced the fist call of their development programme, for innovative power take-off systems. Depending on the status of the technology, projects of £100k to £4m were sought, with successful applicants eligible to claim 100% of the cost of development. [8] A total of 42 applications were made for this £7m call, with contracts awarded to nine consortia. [9] [10]

Novel Wave Energy Converter Call (NWEC)

In June 2015, the second call was announced, this time for "truly novel" wave energy converters. [15] Eight projects were funded for the first stage of the NWEC call, out of 37 applications. [16]

Structural Materials and Manufacturing Processes Call

A third call for Structural Materials and Manufacturing Processes was launched in July 2016, looking for materials for the WEC structure or prime mover that would facilitate a step change reduction in LCOE. [20]

Control Systems

In April 2017, a call on feasibility studies for Control System was announced, particularly welcoming experience from other related sectors. This was for initial projects of up to £47k lasting three months. [24]

Quick Connection System

A call was launched in July 2019 for systems that facilitate rapid connection and disconnection of a WEC from the moorings/electrical system, which was expected to speed up installation and operations, both leading to reduced costs. [28]

Next Generation Wave Energy

In July 2023, a call was launched for concept designs that would directly convert motion into electricity, harnessing novel flexible electrostatic polymers and elastomers. [32] Five projects were awarded up to £50k for 12-14 week concept designs investigating dielectric elastomer generators, and dielectric fluid generators. [33]

EuropeWave

In December 2020, together with the Basque Energy Agency (Ente Vasco de la Energía or EVE), WES set up the EuropeWave programme. [34] This builds on the WES programme, using the same staged approach and pre-commercial procurement model. The programme has a budget of over €22.5m, comprising national, regional, and European Horizon 2020 funding. Trade association Ocean Energy Europe is also part of the consortium. [35]

As with the WES Novel Wave Energy Converter call, the programme will consist of three stages (1–3), culminating in scaled demonstration in real sea conditions for a year, at either the European Marine Energy Centre, Orkney, Scotland, or the Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) near Armintza, Basque Country. [36]

Seven companies, listed in the table below, were selected in December 2021 to develop their device concepts, sharing a budget of €2.4m. After completing Stage 1, the five most promising technologies progressed to Stage 2 to perform more extensive modelling and testing to optimise their design. [37]

In September 2023, it was announced that CETO Wave Energy Ireland ACHIEVE, IDOM Consulting MARMOK-Atlantic, and Mocean Energy Blue Horizon 250 had progressed to the final stage of the EuropeWave programme with a shared budget of €13.4m. [38] In April 2024, CETO secured a berth to test at BiMEP and also passed the authorisation to proceed milestone, enabling them to award the first contracts for fabrication of the device. [39] Mocean plan to test their 250 kW device at the EMEC Billia Croo site, aiming to launch in 2025. [40]

Companies in the EuropeWave programme [37] [38]
CompanyProjectStatus
AMOG ConsultingSea-Saw WECProgressed to stage 2
Arrecife Energy SystemsTrimaranProgressed to stage 2
Bombora Wave Power EuropeemWaveCompleted stage 1
CETO Wave Energy IrelandACHIEVEProgressed to stages 2 and 3
IDOM ConsultingMARMOK AtlanticProgressed to stages 2 and 3
Mocean EnergyBlue Horizon 250Progressed to stages 2 and 3
WaveramThe WaveramCompleted stage 1

Intellectual property

WES acquired intellectual property developed by the now defunct Scottish wave energy companies Pelamis Wave Power and Aquamarine Power. The former as part of the inception of Wave Energy Scotland, hiring 12 former Pelamis employees including CEO Richard Yemm. [41] The latter was completed in September 2016. [42]

Knowledge Library

WES maintain an online Knowledge Library as part of their website, to provide access to information and documents from their extensive technology development programmes. [43] It also contains reports from the knowledge capture projects from Pelamis Wave Power, Aquamarine Power, and AWS Ocean Energy.

Annual conference

With the exception of 2020 and 2021, WES has held an annual conference since 2016 to showcase progress in the sector. [44]

The first Wave Energy Scotland annual conference was held on 2 December 2016 at Pollock Halls in Edinburgh. [45] This provided an update of ongoing and future calls, plus quick-fire updates from participants ongoing PTO and NWEC calls.

A second annual conference was held on 28 November 2017. [46]

The third annual conference was held on 6 December 2018 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. [47]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wave power</span> Transport of energy by wind waves, and the capture of that energy to do useful work

Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pelamis Wave Energy Converter</span>

The Pelamis Wave Energy Converter was a technology that used the motion of ocean surface waves to create electricity. The machine was made up of connected sections which flex and bend as waves pass; it is this motion which is used to generate electricity.

The Wave Hub is a floating offshore wind and wave power research project. The project is developed approximately 10 miles (16 km) off Hayle, on the north coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The hub was installed on the seabed in September 2010, and is a 'socket' sitting on the seabed for wave energy converters to be plugged into. It will have connections to it from arrays of up to four kinds of wave energy converter. A cable from the hub to main land will take electrical power from the devices to the electric grid. The total capacity of the hub will be 20 MWe. The estimated cost of the project is £28 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">CETO</span> Submerged wave power technology

CETO is a wave-energy technology that converts kinetic energy from ocean swell into electrical power and directly desalinates freshwater through reverse osmosis. The technology was developed and tested onshore and offshore in Fremantle, Western Australia. In early 2015 a CETO 5 production installation was commissioned and connected to the grid. As of January 2016 all the electricity generated is being purchased to contribute towards the power requirements of HMAS Stirling naval base at Garden Island, Western Australia. Some of the energy will also be used directly to desalinate water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European Marine Energy Centre</span>

The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) Ltd is a UKAS accredited test and research center focused on wave and tidal power development, based in the Orkney Islands, UK. The centre provides developers with the opportunity to test full-scale grid-connected prototype devices in wave and tidal conditions.

Pelamis Wave Power designed and manufactured the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter – a technology that uses the motion of ocean surface waves to create electricity. The company was established in 1998 and had offices and fabrication facilities in Leith Docks, Edinburgh, Scotland. It went into administration in November 2014.

Narec, since 2014 known as the National Renewable Energy Centre, is a part of the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, a British technology innovation and research centre for offshore wind power, wave energy, tidal energy and low carbon technologies. ORE Catapult's head office is in Glasgow, Scotland. The centre operates multi-purpose offshore renewable energy test and demonstration facilities. It is similar to other centres, such as NREL in the US and National Centre for Renewable Energies (CENER) in Spain. The National Renewable Energy Centre is based in Blyth, Northumberland.

Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) is a U.S. publicly owned renewable energy company, providing electric power and communications solutions, services and related for remote offshore applications. The company's PowerBuoy wave energy conversion technology is theoretically scalable to hundreds of megawatts and the generated energy from wave power can be supplied to the grid via submarine cables. Several projects were undertaken around the world, but the economic viability of the theoretical concept has been problematic.

The Oyster was a hydro-electric wave energy device that used the motion of ocean waves to generate electricity. It was made up of a Power Connector Frame (PCF), which is bolted to the seabed, and a Power Capture Unit (PCU). The PCU is a hinged buoyant flap that moves back and forth with movement of the waves. The movement of the flap drives two hydraulic pistons that feed high-pressured water to an onshore hydro-electric turbine, which drives a generator to make electricity. Oyster was stationed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) at its Billia Croo site in Orkney, Scotland until the company ceased trading in 2015.

The Aegir wave farm was a planned wave farm off the south west of Shetland. The project was developed by Aegir Wave Power, a 2009 formed joint venture of Vattenfall and the wave power technology developer Pelamis Wave Power. The wave farm would have had capacity from 10 MW potentially up to 100 MW. Following the collapse of Pelamis in November 2014, the project was cancelled by Vattenfall in February 2015.

The Saltire Prize, named after the flag of Scotland, was a national award for advances in the commercial development of marine energy.

Richard Yemm is the British inventor of the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter and was director of the former Pelamis Wave Power, a company he founded in Edinburgh in 1998. In 2014 he co-founded a new company, Quoceant, who are engineering consultants specializing in marine energy and technology innovation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MARMOK-A-5</span>

MARMOK-A-5 is an offshore electrical power generator that uses wave energy to create electricity. This device is a spar buoy installed in the maritime testing site BiMEP, in the Bay of Biscay. It is the first grid-connected maritime generator in Spain, and one of the first in the world.

The Ocean Grazer is a conceptual energy collection platform, projected to house several renewable energy generation modules, including wave energy, solar energy and wind energy. The development of the Ocean Grazer platform has been carried out by the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.

Mocean EnergyLtd. is a wave energy technology developer, based in Edinburgh and Aberdeen. They are developing a hinged-raft attenuator wave energy converter (WEC) at various scales for different markets.

Many tidal stream generators have been developed over the years to harness the power of tidal currents flowing around coastlines. These are also called tidal stream turbines (TST), tidal energy converters (TEC), or marine hydro-kinetic (MHK) generation. These turbines operate on a similar principle to wind turbines, but are designed to work in a fluid approximately 800 times more dense than air which is moving at a slower velocity. Note that tidal barrages or lagoons operate on a different principle, generating power by impounding the rising and falling tide.

CorPower Ocean AB is a wave energy device developer, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. They also have offices in Oslo, Viana do Castelo, and Stromness. The office in Viana do Castelo is an R&D centre that also serves as the manufacturing and service centre for the wave energy converters (WEC).

The Aguçadoura test site is an offshore location in the north of Portugal where grid connected offshore renewable energy devices have been tested, for research and project demonstration. It is about 5 km (3 miles) off the coast of Aguçadoura, Póvoa de Varzim, about 35 km NNE of central Porto.

References

  1. ↑ "Project Landscaping". Wave Energy Scotland Knowledge Library. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  2. ↑ "Over £14 million for Wave Energy Scotland". The Scottish Government. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  3. ↑ "Wave Energy Scotland Fact Sheet" (PDF). The Scottish Government. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  4. ↑ Garanovic, Amir (2 February 2021). "IEA-OES releases evaluation guide for ocean energy technology". Offshore Energy. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  5. ↑ "OES | AN INTERNATIONAL EVALUATION AND GUIDANCE FRAMEWORK FOR OCEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGY". www.ocean-energy-systems.org. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  6. ↑ International Electrotechnical Commission (2018). "Guidelines for the early stage development of wave energy converters: Best practices and recommended procedures for the testing of pre-prototype scale devices. IEC/TS 62600-103:2018". IEC Webstore. Retrieved 4 April 2024.
  7. ↑ "Project calls". Wave Energy Scotland. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  8. ↑ "WES launches GBP 7 mln power take-off systems R&D call". Offshore Energy. 19 March 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  9. ↑ "WES announces PTO call contract awards". Tidal Energy Today. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  10. ↑ "International search for innovative power take-off systems for wave energy results in £7m award to technology innovators | hie.co.uk". www.hie.co.uk. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  11. ↑ "International search for innovative power take-off systems for wave energy". Wave Energy Scotland. 30 July 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  12. ↑ "Wave energy technology projects awarded £2M". Wave Energy Scotland. 21 September 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  13. ↑ "Wave Energy Scotland Awards £7.5m for Power Take Off Projects". Wave Energy Scotland. 16 March 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  14. ↑ "ESS' PTO Awarded £2.5m Funding". Wave Energy Scotland. 28 February 2018. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  15. ↑ Shumkov, Ivan (11 June 2015). "Wave Energy Scotland starts 2nd competitive project call". Renewables Now.
  16. ↑ "Search for novel wave energy converters results in £2.25m award to technology innovators | hie.co.uk". www.hie.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  17. ↑ "Search for novel wave energy converters results in £2.25m award". Wave Energy Scotland. 2 November 2015. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  18. ↑ "Wave energy technology projects awarded £2.84m". Wave Energy Scotland. 27 April 2017. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  19. ↑ "Two Scots Firms Secure £7.7m Funding". Wave Energy Scotland. 8 January 2019. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  20. ↑ "WES launches £3 million innovation call". Offshore Energy. 18 July 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  21. ↑ "£3m investment in wave energy projects". Wave Energy Scotland. 10 January 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  22. ↑ "WES Awards £1.4m to three Materials Projects". Wave Energy Scotland. 19 July 2018. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  23. ↑ "Two Scottish teams secure £1 million to bring down cost of wave energy". Wave Energy Scotland. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  24. ↑ "WES opens control systems innovation call". Offshore Energy. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  25. ↑ "WES Awards £660K for 13 new Control Systems Projects". Wave Energy Scotland. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  26. ↑ "Wave Energy Scotland funds new controls projects". Wave Energy Scotland. 27 March 2018. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  27. ↑ "WES awards new advanced control system projects £1m". Wave Energy Scotland. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  28. ↑ "WES Contemplates Quick Connection System R&D Project". Offshore Energy. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
  29. ↑ "Offshore and subsea specialists plunge into wave power sector". Wave Energy Scotland. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  30. ↑ "Companies secure £1.4 million to develop quick connection system for wave energy". Wave Energy Scotland. 14 July 2020. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  31. ↑ "Companies secure £1.8 million to demonstrate quick connection systems for wave energy". Wave Energy Scotland. 5 July 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  32. ↑ Garanovic, Amir (7 July 2023). "Scots launch new competition to cut costs of wave energy technology". Offshore Energy. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  33. ↑ Garanovic, Amir (20 October 2023). "WES boosts 5 projects to design new class of wave energy converters". Offshore Energy. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  34. ↑ Garanovic, Amir (4 December 2020). "Scotland and Basque Country team up for wave energy funding". Offshore Energy. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  35. ↑ "About the project". EuropeWave project website. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  36. ↑ Garanovic, Amir (4 December 2020). "Scotland and Basque Country team up for wave energy funding". Offshore Energy. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  37. 1 2 Largue, Pamela (9 December 2021). "EuropeWave project commits €22.5m to advance wave energy tech". Power Engineering International. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  38. 1 2 Garanovic, Amir (5 September 2023). "EuropeWave unveils top 3 wave energy finalists". Offshore Energy. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  39. ↑ Skopljak, Nadja (17 April 2024). "Carnegie's wave energy converter step closer to deployment at BiMEP". Offshore Energy. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  40. ↑ "Mocean Energy gets £3m EU boost for large new wave energy device". www.imeche.org. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  41. ↑ Shumkov, Ivan (25 February 2015). "Scotland to support new wave energy body with GBP 14.3m". Renewables Now. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  42. ↑ "WES purchases Aquamarine Power IP". Wave Energy Scotland. Retrieved 13 November 2016.
  43. ↑ "Knowledge Library" . library.waveenergyscotland.co.uk. Wave Energy Scotland. Retrieved 11 May 2024.
  44. ↑ "Conferences". Wave Energy Scotland Knowledge Library. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  45. ↑ "Wave Energy Scotland's first Annual Conference" . Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  46. ↑ "WES Annual Conference - 27/11/2017". www.waveenergyscotland.co.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
  47. ↑ "Third Annual Conference". www.waveenergyscotland.co.uk. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
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