Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MEGA WAVE PTO (MODULAR ELECTRICAL GENERATOR PTO SYSTEM FOR WAVE - MEGA PTO WAVE)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2024-05-01 al 2025-10-31
MEGA WAVE PTO - Modular Electrical Generator PTO for Wave
Revolutionising Next-Generation Power Take-Off Design for Wave Energy
The MEGA WAVE PTO project aims to provide an enabling technology to transform ocean waves into clean, reliable energy. Through this project, an innovative, scalable, reliable, and easily maintainable all-electric modular power take-off (PTO) system for wave energy devices, ranging from kW to MW capacities, will be developed. MEGA WAVE PTO will provide a system that will be adaptable to various sea conditions at different installation sites and able to continue operating even in the event of a partial failure.
Using CGEN’s modular design, including components like the magnetic gear and generator, this modularity will create a robust system that is easier to manufacture, transport, install, maintain, remove and recycle compared to current alternatives. It also addresses the common challenges within the marine energy sector, making energy production more flexible, reliable and eco-friendly.
The MEGA WAVE PTO project brings together expertise from all over the EU and from the UK to create a PTO linked to sustainable supply chains, to accelerate wave energy commercialisation to capture vast amounts of predictable energy in a sustainable and cost-effective manner, in order to meet EU NetZero targets by 2050. The MEGA WAVE PTO project, jointly funded by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency and UK’s Research and Innovation Agency, started in May 2024 and it is running for four years.
Revolutionising Next-Generation Power Take-Off Design for Wave Energy
The MEGA WAVE PTO project aims to provide an enabling technology to transform ocean waves into clean, reliable energy. Through this project, an innovative, scalable, reliable, and easily maintainable all-electric modular power take-off (PTO) system for wave energy devices, ranging from kW to MW capacities, will be developed. MEGA WAVE PTO will provide a system that will be adaptable to various sea conditions at different installation sites and able to continue operating even in the event of a partial failure.
Using CGEN’s modular design, including components like the magnetic gear and generator, this modularity will create a robust system that is easier to manufacture, transport, install, maintain, remove and recycle compared to current alternatives. It also addresses the common challenges within the marine energy sector, making energy production more flexible, reliable and eco-friendly.
The MEGA WAVE PTO project brings together expertise from all over the EU and from the UK to create a PTO linked to sustainable supply chains, to accelerate wave energy commercialisation to capture vast amounts of predictable energy in a sustainable and cost-effective manner, in order to meet EU NetZero targets by 2050. The MEGA WAVE PTO project, jointly funded by the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency and UK’s Research and Innovation Agency, started in May 2024 and it is running for four years.
In the first 18 months the MEGA WAVE PTO project has developed according to the plan, with the accomplishment of the deliverables and milestones only with minor delays from the due dates. A relevant achievement is the design and build of the 1 kW axial magnetic gear and CGEN generator, including the adequate power electronics design. The actual design parameter is not the power, it is the generator torque, rated to 1000 Nm. The work in WP2 included final manufacturing drawings, tooling/jigs, coil production and full assembly, with learning transferred to the forthcoming large scale in WP3. The small scale PTO system will be subject to experimental validation in WP10. In the end of month M18 (October 2025), the test rig adaptations and interfaces were completed, the test programme and instrumentation defined. Test runs and data analysis are planned for the next reporting period.
In parallel, a unified MATLAB/Simulink wave-to-wire framework has been established in WP4. The integrated modelling architecture comprises reduced-order models for the magnetic gear, generator and modular power electronics, as well as the wave excitation and the primary captor for three reference wave energy converter (WEC) concepts (buoy, hinged raft, submerged body), with simplified controllers and degradation/failure representations. The three reference WECs represent different power scales (up to 10 kW, 100-250 kW and up to 1 MW), underlining the modularity of the PTO system. Building on this, WP5 defined a layered controller architecture (simulation and HIL use cases) and began initial integrated controller development.
Advanced condition-monitoring and diagnostic methods were developed in WP6 to improve the reliability of the magnetic gearbox and generator, focusing on inter-turn, demagnetisation, and eccentricity faults. Fault signature analysis using validated FEA models showed that air-gap/stray-flux monitoring and novel zero-sequence flux techniques are effective where traditional methods struggle for coreless C-GEN machines.
On sustainability and economics, WP7 established the baseline LCA/LCOE framework, reference case studies, and consolidated literature and cost benchmarks to enable consistent comparisons across devices and scenarios. WP8 initiated O&M planning, including a preliminary accessibility and maintenance study considering the location of BiMEP, indicating that the modular MEGA WAVE PTO generator and power electronics can reduce downtime and increase energy yield versus “standard” PTO approaches, even under conservative repair-time assumptions.
An initial European PTO supply chain assessment in WP9 mapped electrical machines manufacturing capability and regional concentrations, analysed production, export and trade balance, and concluded that Europe remains strong in utility-class machines while facing increasing competition in lower-power segments.
In parallel, a unified MATLAB/Simulink wave-to-wire framework has been established in WP4. The integrated modelling architecture comprises reduced-order models for the magnetic gear, generator and modular power electronics, as well as the wave excitation and the primary captor for three reference wave energy converter (WEC) concepts (buoy, hinged raft, submerged body), with simplified controllers and degradation/failure representations. The three reference WECs represent different power scales (up to 10 kW, 100-250 kW and up to 1 MW), underlining the modularity of the PTO system. Building on this, WP5 defined a layered controller architecture (simulation and HIL use cases) and began initial integrated controller development.
Advanced condition-monitoring and diagnostic methods were developed in WP6 to improve the reliability of the magnetic gearbox and generator, focusing on inter-turn, demagnetisation, and eccentricity faults. Fault signature analysis using validated FEA models showed that air-gap/stray-flux monitoring and novel zero-sequence flux techniques are effective where traditional methods struggle for coreless C-GEN machines.
On sustainability and economics, WP7 established the baseline LCA/LCOE framework, reference case studies, and consolidated literature and cost benchmarks to enable consistent comparisons across devices and scenarios. WP8 initiated O&M planning, including a preliminary accessibility and maintenance study considering the location of BiMEP, indicating that the modular MEGA WAVE PTO generator and power electronics can reduce downtime and increase energy yield versus “standard” PTO approaches, even under conservative repair-time assumptions.
An initial European PTO supply chain assessment in WP9 mapped electrical machines manufacturing capability and regional concentrations, analysed production, export and trade balance, and concluded that Europe remains strong in utility-class machines while facing increasing competition in lower-power segments.
The design and particularly the build of the magnetic gear for the small scale PTO system (1000 Nm of torque, around 1 kW) is very challenging. Its performance, however, will be assessed only in the following months until April 2026. The new methods for condition monitoring that have been developed in the project are very scientifically relevant and provide a basis to increase the reliability of the PTO system. It is expected that on a later stage of the project, including the design, build and demonstration of the large scale PTO system, the consortium will have a clearer idea regarding the needs for the uptake and success of the technology under development.