Scottish teams led by Arup and Tension Technology International secure £1m funding from Wave Energy Scotland to bring down cost of new technologies
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A consortium that is working with an Inverness-based wave energy developer will share in a £1 million funding package.
The team led by consultant engineers Arup aims to show that pre-cast reinforced concrete can be incorporated in a variety of wave technologies.
The technology is being incorporated into a half-scale prototype being developed by AWS Ocean Energy for real sea testing in Orkney later this year.
Now Arup and another consortium, led by rope and mooring specialists Tension Technology International (TTI), have secured the money as part of a package of measures to help bring down the cost of wave energy technology and bring it closer to commercialisation.
The two consortia have secured just short of £1 million funding from Wave Energy Scotland (WES) to demonstrate the potential of new applications of materials to bring down the cost of wave power.
Last year Inverness company AWS also received funding from WES through the novel wave energy converter programme to build its AWS Archimedes Waveswing prototype.
Last year AWS and Edinburgh firm Mocean Energy shared £8 million to build half-scale wave energy machines which will be tested in real ocean conditions later this year.
George Walker, associate in advanced digital engineering at Arup, said: “We are excited to work with WES to further develop our concrete wave energy converter design and improve the commercial case for the sector.
“The previous stage included successful full-scale testing of an innovative precast connection to enable serial production of concrete wave energy devices. The next stage comprises integrating the material into the Archimedes Waveswing device to bring down cost, and development of a digital design tool to enable concrete to be exploited in the sector more widely.”
Tension Technology International will advance the design of its flexible buoyant pod which is encapsulated in a fibre rope net.
Both projects secured the awards to progress to stage three of WES’s structural materials and manufacturing processes programme, having come through the WES stage-gate process, which began with 10 technologies at stage one and three at stage two.
The teams aim to demonstrate the survivability of their concepts and their application in a range of wave energy devices. They will also work with supply chain partners to advance the commercialisation of their technologies and will provide open source design tools that can be used by wave energy developers in the design of their devices.
Ben Yeats, project manager at Tension Technology International, said: “TTI is excited to be awarded this stage three contract to further develop our innovative inflatable Netbuoy technology. The recent completion of the design phase has shown that our technology is applicable to a wide range of wave power technologies and can ultimately deliver a step change in the cost of marine renewable energy.
“Stage three, which will include Scottish coastal field trials, will enable TTI to advance the Netbuoy’s technical and commercial readiness while exploring new markets.”
Commenting on the awards, Tim Hurst, managing director of WES, said “Our goal is to deliver technologies that can produce power reliably and can demonstrate a route to commercial readiness.
“These two projects use materials that have a long history of use in the marine environment but so far have not been considered for wave energy machines. We believe both have real potential to be incorporated in future devices and bring down the cost of wave power.”
He added: “One of the benefits of reinforced concrete is that it has a lower unit cost and superior durability to steel in the marine environment and could be applied to a number of wave energy concepts, especially where its higher mass can bring benefits.
“At the other end of the scale, TTI’s Netbuoy offers buoyancy where needed, with the ability to flex under extreme wave loads.
“These awards will enable both technologies to make significant advances towards commercially ready products.”
The WES programme is fully funded by the Scottish Government.
