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WavePort

WavePort

WAVEPORT is a 4 year €8.5m project supported by the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Commission. The project brings together engineering expertise from 4 European countries and the USA to deploy and demonstrate a commercial scale wave energy converter with an innovative real time wave by wave tuning system.

 

Background

In the Atlantic arc from Iceland to Portugal, Europe has some of the best natural wave resources in the world; with the total potential European ocean wave power estimated to be in the range 150 -240 TWh per annum. The main barrier to wave energy expansion is the lack of a large, commercial-scale demonstration of the technology. In addition, the efficiency of devices is limited and needs to be improved.

The WAVEPORT project aims to address this shortfall by demonstrating a large scale grid connected, 600kW peak generator rated, point absorber Wave Energy Converter – for which a smaller scale prototype has already been tested.

WAVEPORT will also expedite the development of alternative devices by installing a ten port open platform 1.5MW rated underwater substation pod for the validation of future wave energy converters. To address the need for improved efficiency; a novel Real-Time Wave-by-Wave tuning system will be developed and demonstrated.

 

Project Details

Our main aims are:

  • Reduce the capital infrastructure cost of the WEC device to less than 2000/kW by 2020.
  • Accelerate the development of a wavefarm site within the Santona site in Spain, to 90 MW by 2020 generating over 500 GWh per annum, offsetting approx 215,000 tonnes of CO2 per annum
  • Accelerate the development of European wave farms to 0.97 GW by 2020 generating over 6 TWh offsetting approx. 2.6 mT of CO2 per annum
  • Facilitating an open platform approach for utilities and WEC developers through the use of the Underwater Sub-Station Pod, further reducing the risks associated with investment in this technology
  • Reduce the cost of Wave energy generated electricity to 4.3 c /kWh by 2020
  • Improvement on the energy efficiency of wave energy devices by at least 35 % (loading factor to at least 75%) by utilising the Real-Time Wave-by-Wave tuning system.
  • Create 7600 jobs in the renewable energy sector over the period to 2020 by developing a European based wave energy industry worth 1.9 billion in cumulative sales