Low price wave energy conversion through force cancellation.

Project Information

Wavepiston

Grant agreement ID: 663466

DOI

10.3030/663466

Project closed

EC signature date 7 March 2015

Start date 1 February 2015

End date 31 May 2015

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Secure, clean and efficient energy

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

WAVEPISTON AS
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Wavepiston (Low price wave energy conversion through force cancellation.)

Reporting period: 2015-02-01 to 2015-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Globally wave energy has a large market potential. However it has yet to be successfully harnessed at a commercial level due to the large structural and installation cost of wave energy converters resulting in a high levelised cost of energy unable to compete with other renewable forms of energy. Wavepiston's business innovation project intends to bring to the market a new wave energy converter that is able to bring down the levelised cost of energy making it competitive and therefore will enable the commercial adoption of wave energy. So far in Wavepiston's development it has received many positive results in test and strong interest from potential customers. Wavepiston has been in development since 2006 and has now reached a technology readiness level of 7. Wavepiston intends to demonstrate and validate the Wavepiston system in a full-size demonstration at the wave test site DanWEC in Denmark. This will allow them to validate both the structural aspects of the system but also the power generating potential and therefore will put them in a more advanced position to attract commercial interest. Additionally Wavepiston will focus on developing their business so it is ready for market entry and able to industrially produce Wavepiston.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

During the feasibility report Wavepiston has defined their product development plan to achieving their objective of commercialisation, and decided that following on from their current 1:2 size system, it will be important to follow on with a full-size demonstration of the system. Further more they have accessed need for financing for this roadmap the necessary key partnerships have been established. The final financial and employment impact of Wavepiston has also been accessed.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

The expected outcome of the project is to start the full commercialisation of Wavepiston at the end of PH2 as the first on the market wave energy converter. Wavepiston will establish their first commercial system (a 1 MW Wavepiston) competitively priced renewable energy to their target market of islands and isolated coastal communities. This will reduce their dependency on expensive and polluting old diesel generators. With the large global potential market and scalability of Wavepiston allowing it to be placed in many coastal environments, Wavepiston intends to increase the adoption of renewable energy via wave energy, and thereby lowering emissions and the subsequent environmental impact.

Wavepiston at Nissum Bredning

Wavepiston at Nissum Bredning

Wavepiston close to a city (visualisation)

Testing at University of Aalborg