De-risking wave energy technology development through transnational pre-commercial procurement of wave energy research and development

The challenge is the development and demonstration of cost-effective wave energy converters that can survive in a harsh and unpredictable ocean or sea environment through demand-driven pre-commercial procurement (PCP). The challenge is open to proposals seeking to steer wave energy development in an effective way at a European level and to bring these technologies to the market.

The operation of wave energy prototypes in real sea conditions is a critical step to establish confidence in the devices and to facilitate the large-scale roll-out of this renewable technology. Pre-commercial procurement has been shown to be an effective tool to de-risk such activities.

The EuropeWave PCP action has introduced the ocean energy stage-gate process on a European-level procedure following the evaluation framework provided by Task 12 of the IEA Ocean Energy System Technology Collaboration Platform. It supported the development of several wave energy devices in a stage-gate process to Stage 3 (approximately TRL 6). The scope of this action is to bring wave energy technologies at Stage 4 approximately TRL7/8). Designs must achieve completion of Stage 4 activities of the IEA-OES Framework Evaluation Areas by the end of the action, including technical, socio-economic, and sustainability aspects.

Proposals have to describe their jointly identified challenge, indicating how it fits into their mid-to-long term innovation plans, and specify why solutions currently available on the market or under development are not meeting their needs.

Activities have to include: (1) networking related to preparation, management and coordination and (2) joint research activities related to the validation of PCP strategy. The consortium should include at least three legal entities established in different member states or Horizon Europe associated countries, as well as a minimum of two 'public procurers'. Other entities with a clear added value in the preparation and/or execution of the PCP or in coordination and networking activities might be considered.

The proposed action is to be structured as following:

Preparation phase:

Participating users/buyers of R&D services (with either a pan-European, national, or regional focus) should agree on a common set of performance levels and associated specifications for wave energy systems. The funding from the participating users/buyers and the European Union will be used to bring forward wave energy technologies and complete Stage 4 (reach TRL7/8).

The procurement is open to any entities established in the EU or countries associated to Horizon Europe, and the proposed wave energy technology must be able to evidence the satisfactory completion of stage 3 activities as a minimum prior-development requirement (with or without the support of EuropeWave). A phased approach can be considered to allow developers to qualify for selection for the Stage 4 demonstration. Demonstrators don’t have to be necessarily tested at the same site.

At the end of the preparation phase, the following results are expected: i) completed tender documents, ii) signed joint procurement agreement confirming the collaboration modus operandi including the financial commitment of the buyers’ group and iii) final confirmation of the lead procurer.

Execution phase:

This phase will take care of implementing the PCP and its contracts.

The procurement will be executed as a single joint procedure in which different lots can be considered. The research and specification works are expected to lead to at least two commercial scale demonstrators tested for at least 12 months in a commercially representative site during the action duration following the IEA-OES[[ IEA-OES: International Energy Agency – Ocean Energy Systems]] stage-gate metrics.

Results will be shared with the European industry to accelerate the technology development and the establishment of guidelines and standards to facilitate the transferability of knowledge creation. At the end of the action, at least one of the demonstrators is expected to be ready for testing in an operational environment at commercial scale.

At the end of the action, designs are expected to be ready to proceed to Stage 5 activities of the IEA-OES Framework Evaluation Areas (Commercial-scale array demonstration).