Wave energy remains one of the most underexploited clean energy options, with huge potential as part of a green energy grid. Finland’s AW Energy is preparing to field a large-scale contender – the WaveRoller – which generates up to 1 megawatt of power while sitting on the seabed.
Wave power does not appear to be a very fast moving field. We’ve seen a lot of exciting ideas in this area, from jetty-mounted pump arms to telescoping barrels, elastic sea-bed flappers and two different flavors of artificial blowhole generators, just to name a few, but almost all remain A pilot/prototype phase.
Which is annoying; Wave energy is ultra-reliable, ultra-predictable and available 24/7 on beaches around the world, which is exactly where many people want to be. This should be a dream addition to the renewable energy mix. But it’s going so slowly that you wonder where the holdup is.
WaveRoller – Plug in to wave energy
The idea behind the Waveroller came when a diver observed a large hatch on a shipwreck that was moving back and forth with considerable force as waves passed over it, and he wondered whether the same “buoyancy” effect would occur. , which causes water particles to move back and forth horizontally. Elliptical shapes close to the edge can be used to drive hydraulic pistons and generate power.
That light bulb moment was in 1993, when Michael Jordan was cementing Charles Barkley’s legacy as a ringless wonder in the NBA Finals, and simpsons Season five was well into its stride. We’re talking “who needs a Quickie-Mart” and Homer joining the barbershop quartet. That’s a long time ago.
It took until 1999 to test proof of concept, then until 2005 before small-scale test farms were established in Scotland and Ecuador, then until 2016 for a design to be manufactured, assembled, tested and certified across Europe. Put. The first commercial waveroller, a 350-kilowatt unit, was connected to the grid 800 meters (2,600 ft) off the Portuguese coast in Peniche in 2019. Here it is, Brand Spankers, being taken out and deployed.
waveroller deployment
Aaaand here it is, being taken out for inspection after two years. Part of the problem may be quite obvious; The ocean is a harsh mistress. Anything you leave there gets spoiled by salt, eaten away by corrosion and gets stored away in the barn.
The exciting climax of our WaveRoller wave energy project
Mind you, AW Energy was not unhappy with the outcome: “We are pleased to confirm that the unit and its external components are in excellent condition, just take a look at the photos as proof of the durability and quality of this system ,” reads. The company’s Facebook page is from the day it was brought ashore.
Since 2020, the company has worked on a project supported by EU funding to adapt the WaveRoller and its associated bits and pieces for serial manufacturing, as well as deployment in arrays of between 10-24 WaveRoller units. These arrays, called waveforms, will be located on the ocean floor at a depth of between 8 and 12 meters, no more than 2 km (1.3 mi) from the coast.
Each waveroller is rated for a peak power output of 1 MW, and in a study published in 2023 Renewable energy, We learned that each is expected to produce between 624-813 MW per year. In terms of levelized cost of energy (LCOE), waveroller is by far the most cost-competitive of the five technologies studied, with an LCOE of US$100-150/MWh.
For comparison, this is within reach of offshore wind, which costs between US$82-255/MWh in 2022 according to the US DoE, and has enjoyed several years of commercial development to get costs into that ballpark.
Waverollers are partially or completely submerged on the seabed, making use of the buoyancy effect caused by waves as they approach the shore.
aw energy
Matthew Petch, CFO of AW-Energy, said in a press release that waverollers “can provide electricity closer to baseload electricity than other renewables, and put Europe at the forefront of innovative renewable technologies.” The wavefarm project “enabled AW-Energy to take important steps towards positive cash generation for both the company and the European ocean energy sector, by preparing the technology and the company for commercial deployment of the devices and developing a sales pipeline.”
The company “envisions a global project pipeline of 150 MW for wavefarm solutions,” and “expects to drive a €275 million boost to the European economy and create 500 jobs over the next decade.”
The pipeline was said to be looking a bit bare when erected; The company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a clean energy company in Namibia for the purpose of deploying a wavefarm off the coast of Swakopmund. An MOU is a slippery document, worth more than a handshake but much less than a contract. That’s all we can get at this point, no matter how much the company is speculating.
Forgive our impatience here, but we are focusing on cost-effective clean energy solutions that can strengthen renewable energy grids globally. In this case it has been 31 years since the light bulb moment, so how long would it take for the waves to power more actual light bulbs?
Source: EU, AW Energy
Source: newatlas.com
