An OE Buoy or Ocean Energy Buoy is a floating wave power device that uses an Oscillating Water Column design. It is being developed by Irish company Ocean Energy Ltd., based in Cork, in collaboration with the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre at University College Cork, Queen's University Belfast, and Marine Institute Ireland.
It was developed by the HMRC in Cork and is now owned and developed by the spun off OceanEnergy.The OE buoy has only one moving part, the self-rectifying Wells turbine. [1]
The OE Buoy is a version of a device known as the Backward Bent Duct Buoy (BBDB) which was invented in 1986 by wave energy pioneer and Japanese naval commander Yoshio Masuda.
The company Ocean Energy Ltd. was founded in 2002 by Michael Whelan and John McCarthy. [2]
Initial model test to prove the concept were conducted at the Hydraulics and Maritime Research Centre of University College Cork at 1:50 scale, followed by further tank testing in École centrale de Nantes, France at 1:15 scale. [1] [3]
From December 2006, a quarter-scale version of the OE12 was tested at the Ocean Energy Test Site in Galway Bay, near Spiddal. [4] It was moored on site on Christmas day, and survived waves of up to 8.2 metres (27 ft) during a force 11 storm on New Year's Eve. [2] Initially, the device was tested without a turbine to provide a baseline to compare with tank testing, but one was fitted in September 2007. Testing continued for a further 2 years until September 2009. [5] The buoy was 12 m long, 6 m wide, and 6 m high (approx. 39×20×20 ft), and weighed 28 tonnes. [1] [3] As of the 5th of March 2011 the model has been redeployed at the same site, primarily as a data collector for the EU funded Cores Project.
Construction of a full-scale version commenced in Oregon in 2018, built by Vigor Shipyards. This device is 38 ft long, 59 ft wide, with a draft of 31 ft (38×18×9.4 m), weighs 826 tons, and has a power rating of 500 kW (although this could be increased to 1.25 MW). [6] It was originally scheduled to be deploy to the US Navy's Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) in 2019. [7] The device was finally deployed by Ocean Energy USA at the WETS off the windward coast of Oahu on 19 July 2024. It has a rated power of 1.25 MW, and is expected to be connected to the grid in the coming weeks. [8] [9]
As part of the Horizon Europe WEDUSEA project (Wave Energy Demonstration at Utility Scale to Enable Arrays), Ocean Energy and partners plan to adapt the design and test an OE35 device at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, Scotland. [6] The project was given the go-ahead to commence the 1 MW device build in September 2024, with testing scheduled to start in June 2025. [10]
Ocean Energy also plan to scale the technology up further, to the OE50 buoy capable of producing 2.5 MW. [6]
Wave Dragon is a concept wave energy converter of the overtopping type, developed by the Danish company Wave Dragon Aps. Incoming waves flow up a ramp into a reservoir, the water the drains back to sea level though a hydro-electric turbine, generating electricity. "Reflector arms" are used to focus incoming waves, to channel the waves towards the ramp, increasing the energy captured.
Wavebob was a wave energy converter which was in development between 1999 and 2013 when the company was closed owing to funding difficulties.
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.
The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) Ltd. is a UKAS accredited test and research centre 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.
New Zealand has large ocean energy resources but does not yet generate any power from them. TVNZ reported in 2007 that over 20 wave and tidal power projects are currently under development. However, not a lot of public information is available about these projects. The Aotearoa Wave and Tidal Energy Association was established in 2006 to "promote the uptake of marine energy in New Zealand". According to their 10 February 2008 newsletter, they have 59 members. However, the association doesn't list its members.
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.
Marine energy or marine power refers to the energy carried by ocean waves, tides, salinity, and ocean temperature differences. The movement of water in the world's oceans creates a vast store of kinetic energy, or energy in motion. Some of this energy can be harnessed to generate electricity to power homes, transport and industries.
SDE Sea Wave is a type of renewable energy power plant technology utilizing sea wave energy for the production of electricity.
The U.S. state of Massachusetts has vast wind energy resources offshore, as well as significant resources onshore. The 2016 update to the states's Clean Energy and Climate Plan had a goal of reducing 1990 baseline greenhouse gas emissions levels by 25% by 2020. Current goals include installing 3,500 megawatts (MW) of offshore wind power in the state by 2035. However, as of Q4 2021 the state had only 120 MW of wind powered electricity generating capacity, responsible for generating 0.9% of in-state electricity production. The state has awarded contracts to two offshore projects, the 800 MW Vineyard Wind project and 804 MW Mayflower Wind project. Construction began on the Vineyard Wind 1 project on November 18, 2021, after a long fight for approval. Commonwealth Wind was selected for development in 2021, but the developer has attempted to cancel the project due to increased costs. There are eight projects planned for off the southern coast of Massachusetts, though some will deliver power to Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York.
A tidal stream generator, often referred to as a tidal energy converter (TEC), is a machine that extracts energy from moving masses of water, in particular tides, although the term is often used in reference to machines designed to extract energy from the run of a river or tidal estuarine sites. Certain types of these machines function very much like underwater wind turbines and are thus often referred to as tidal turbines. They were first conceived in the 1970s during the oil crisis.
Oscillating water columns (OWCs) are a type of wave energy converter that harness energy from the oscillation of the seawater inside a chamber or hollow caused by the action of waves. OWCs have shown promise as a renewable energy source with low environmental impact. Because of this, multiple companies have been working to design increasingly efficient OWC models. OWC are devices with a semi-submerged chamber or hollow open to the sea below, keeping a trapped air pocket above a water column. Waves force the column to act like a piston, moving up and down, forcing the air out of the chamber and back into it. This continuous movement forces a bidirectional stream of high-velocity air, which is channeled through a power take-off (PTO). The PTO system converts the airflow into energy. In models that convert airflow to electricity, the PTO system consists of a bidirectional turbine. This means that the turbine always spins the same direction regardless of the direction of airflow, allowing for energy to be continuously generated. Both the collecting chamber and PTO systems will be explained further under "Basic OWC Components."
The DeepCwind Consortium was a national consortium of universities, nonprofits, utilities, and industry leaders. The mission of the consortium was to establish the State of Maine as a national leader in floating offshore wind technology. Much of the consortium's work and resulting research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundations, and others.
The University of Maine (UMaine) Deepwater Offshore Wind Test Site, located nearly 3 miles south west of Monhegan Island, Maine is available for use by commercial and non-commercial entities in partnership with the University of Maine, or the University of Maine itself, to research and develop ocean energy devices, such as floating wind turbines or wave energy converters.
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.
Minesto AB is a Swedish developer of electricity producing tidal kite turbines, based in Gothenburg. They also have a manufacturing base in Holyhead, North Wales, and a test facility at Portaferry, Northern Ireland.
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.
The Penguin is a wave energy converter (WEC) which was developed by Finnish company Wello Oy between 2008 and 2023. Two full-scale device were constructed, and tested in Scotland and Spain respectively, although both tests ended in difficulties.
WaveRoller is a wave energy converter (WEC) developed by Finish company AW-Energy Oy since 2002, although the initial concept was developed between 1993 and 1999.