Project description
Putting wave power technology on the path to commercial availability
Ocean waves contain tremendous energy potential. A host of challenges, including the difficulty of designing a device that can withstand the tough ocean conditions, have stymied efforts to generate electricity from the sea. The EU-funded Wave Scale project is developing an innovative wave energy converter that automatically recognises the different types of ocean waves, alerting the relevant system to either raise the floaters above the water level or submerge them for protection. The device will be entirely modular and produced in units of 1 MW. Once deployed at a large scale, it promises to deliver electricity at a levelised cost of energy between EUR 50 and EUR 90.
Objective
Wave energy offers massive potential but has yet to be exploited and rolled out at scale. The wave power industry has suffered high-profile failures since many devices were unable to withstand the tough ocean environments. Eco Wave Power has developed an innovative Wave Energy Convertor (WEC), designed to operate nearshore or effectively onshore: most of the system is located on land with only floaters and pistons positioned in the water. And it is designed to capture the type and size of waves which are typical at the shore. The unique design results insignificantly reduced costs for installation and
operation. And most of the parts are standard equipment which is easily available. The WEC promises to deliver electricity at a LCOE of between €50 and €EUR90, when operating at scale. The device is entirely modular and will ultimately be produced in units of 1MW. It incorporates innovative protection methods which are deployed in the event of storms: the WEC automatically recognizes the particular wave type, alerting the system to either raise the floaters above the water level or submerse them for protection. EWP installed a 100 kW EWP system (1:10 scale) in Gibraltar, in 2016 through an EU Regional Development Fund project. It is performing in accordance with expectations and is already selling energy to the Gibraltar grid. Eco Wave Power aims to scale the device to 1MW and has a PPA agreement in place with the Gibraltar Government to deliver the power generated in the future. The company has letters of intent from a further 12 customers, in Europe and across the world, for additional installations, ranging from 1MW to 50MW. Eco Wave Power aims to roll out through SPVs and a ‘Build-Own-Operate’ model initially – and to sell its WEC directly, or through license to third parties, in the longer term. EWP aims to develop its business plan to go to market through the Phase 1 project and envisages a further Phase 2 project to take its technology to full scale.
Fields of science
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness models
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energyhydroelectricitymarine energywave power
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesecologyecosystems
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
SME-1 - SME instrument phase 1Coordinator
6777116 Tel Aviv
Israel
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.