CorPower completes final phase testing of WEC technology
In early March, Swedish wave energy company CorPower Ocean announced that it had completed the final phase of testing of its advanced compact high-efficiency Wave Energy Converter (WEC) technology – which it claims is capable of delivering a power density five times higher than competing technologies and a cost of energy that can compete with conventional non-renewable energy resources.
The milestone means that the company can now move ahead with the deployment of a full scale prototype of the innovative gear-based technology that is inspired by the pumping action of the human heart.
Each WEC employs a novel phase control method that allows it to constantly oscillate in resonance with incoming waves – a feature that CorPower says helps it to ‘strongly amplify its motion and power capture.’ According to the company, phase controlled oscillation offers an exceptionally high energy density – five times higher than conventional WECs developed without phase control – meaning that a large amount of energy can be harvested using only a relatively small device.
CorPower believes that the small size of the device will set it apart from other offerings in the wave power sector – largely because it is ‘robust enough to survive the toughest storms’ but can also ‘produce enough energy to make it a viable business case.’
“Wave Energy Converters have so far been too large and costly compared to their energy output, which has prevented commercial harvesting of electricity from ocean waves. Our test results made public earlier this month confirm a step-change improvement compared to the previous state-of-the-art devices,” says Patrik Möller, CEO at CorPower Ocean.
“With 3 times more annual energy per PTO (Power Take-Off) force and five times more annual energy per ton, wave power can for the first time compete with modern wind turbines. The WaveSpring phase control technology is a game changer for wave power, and we expect this will enable wide-spread industrial adoption of resonant point absorbers for utility scale wave farms,” he adds.
The WEC is the main focus of the HiWave project, a three year €2.3 million partnership between Corpower, global power company Iberdrola and Lisbon-based marine research centre WavEC to develop and commercialise the technology.
According to KIC InnoEnergy, which co-funds the project alongside the Swedish Energy Agency, a full scale glass fibre or steel prototype of the WEC – which is expected to measure some eight metres in diameter and weigh close to 60 tons – is slated for completion in 2016. In tandem with researchers from The Royal Institute of Technology of Stockholm and The Norwegian University of Science and Technology, the consortium is also targeting full scale demonstration by late 2017.
By Andrew Williams
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