Tag: wedusea

Irish-led wave energy project gets go ahead from EU

A €19.6 million partnership project, which aims to be the stepping stone towards large scale wave energy commercialisation, has received formal go-ahead from the European Union.

WEDUSEA is a pioneering collaboration between 14 partners, spanning industry and academia from across the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Spain. It is co-ordinated by the Irish company OceanEnergy.

The project is co-funded by the EU Horizon Europe Programme and by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.  

In common with all other Horizon Europe projects, WEDUSEA has undergone a comprehensive independent review by EU appointed external experts following its initial project design period to ensure the technical designs and all plans, budgets and protocols are fully in place and approved.

The green light has now been received from the EU and the project can proceed to its next stage.

The WEDUSEA project will demonstrate a grid connected 1MW OE35 floating wave energy converter at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) wave energy test site at Billia Croo in Orkney, Scotland. A rigorous technical and environmental demonstration will happen over a two-year period in Atlantic wave conditions.

OceanEnergy has developed the OE35, which is the world’s largest capacity floating wave energy device. Floating on the ocean’s surface, the device incorporates a trapped air volume, with the lower part open to the sea. Wave pressures at the submerged opening cause the water to oscillate and drive the trapped air through a turbine to generate electricity. Electricity generated will be exported to the UK grid via EMEC’s subsea cables. 

Prof Tony Lewis, Chief Technical Officer at OceanEnergy, says: “Wave energy is the world’s most valuable renewable resource with around 30TWh of potential annual production waiting to be harnessed. That’s almost ten times Europe’s annual electricity consumption. However, this potential has yet to be fully realised. The project will demonstrate that wave technology is on a cost reduction trajectory and will thus be a stepping stone to larger commercial array scale up and further industrialisation. We predict that the natural energy of the world’s oceans will one day supply much of the grid.” 

The WEDUSEA project has three phases. The first phase is the initial design and build of a device suited to the ocean conditions at EMEC’s Billia Croo wave energy test site. This will be followed by the demonstration at the site, lasting two years. The final phase will be commercialisation and dissemination which sees the capitalisation and exploitation of the results. 

Matthijs Soede from the European Commission said at the start of the project: “WEDUSEA is set to be a major catalyst for the wave energy industry, unlocking the full potential of this exciting renewable technology. 

 

Prof Lars Johanning of University of Plymouth says: “The WEDUSEA partnership has worked hard to ensure that all detailed designs and planning are robust, to prove that the project is viable and that the project will be delivered within budget. Now we have received the green light from the EU, it’s all systems go!”

The wave converter build starts in the second half of 2024 and the demonstration at EMEC is expected to begin in June 2025.

 

Disclaimer: Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.

This international partnership comprises the following 14 organisations:

  1. OCEAN ENERGY (NEW WAVE TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED) – IRELAND 
  2. INNOSEA – FRANCE
  3. ADVANCED SIMULATION TECHNOLOGIES – SPAIN
  4. FRAUNHOFER GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FORDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG EV – GERMANY
  5. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, CORK – IRELAND
  6. GAVIN AND DOHERTY GEOSOLUTIONS LTD – IRELAND
  7. EXCEEDENCE LTD – IRELAND
  8. WOOD – IRELAND
  9. HYDRO GROUP PLC – UK
  10. THE EUROPEAN MARINE ENERGY RESEARCH CENTRE – UK
  11. LONGITUDE CONSULTING ENGINEERS LIMITED – UK
  12. UNIVERSITY OF PLYMOUTH- UK
  13. INNOSEA LTD – UK
  14. GREEN MARINE (UK) LTD -UK 

The website is www.wedusea.eu

New €19.6 million project led by Irish company is set to transform wave energy industry

A €19.6 million partnership project aiming to be the stepping stone towards large scale wave energy commercialisation, will be launched this week at the International Conference on Ocean Energy in San Sebastian, Spain. 

WEDUSEA is a pioneering collaboration between 14 partners, spanning industry and academia from across Ireland, the UK, France, Germany and Spain. It is co-ordinated by the Irish company OceanEnergy.

 The project is co-funded by the EU Horizon Europe Programme and Innovate UK. 

 Five of the partners in WEDUSEA are based in Ireland. These are:

  • OceanEnergy (Cork) which is co-ordinating the project
  • University College Cork
  • Gavin and Doherty Geosolutions (Cork)
  • Exceedence Ltd (Cork)
  • Wood (Galway)

OceanEnergy has developed the OE35, which is the world’s largest capacity floating wave energy device. Floating on the ocean’s surface, the device incorporates a trapped air volume, with the lower part open to the sea. Wave pressures at the submerged opening cause the water to oscillate and drive the trapped air through a turbine to generate electricity. This energy can be exported to the grid or used in other offshore applications.  

The WEDUSEA project will demonstrate a grid connected 1MW OE35 floating wave energy converter at the European Marine Energy Centre Test Site in Orkney, Scotland.

Prof Tony Lewis, Chief Technical Officer at OceanEnergy, explains: “This rigorous technical and environmental demonstration will happen over a two-year period in Atlantic wave conditions. We believe this will be transformational for the wave energy industry, with outcomes directly impacting policy, technical standards, public perception and investor confidence. Wave energy is the world’s most valuable and persistent renewable resource. However, it has yet to be fully realised.  The project will demonstrate that  wave technology is on a cost reduction trajectory and will thus be a stepping stone to larger commercial array scale up and further industrialisation. We predict that the natural energy of the world’s oceans will one day supply much of the grid.” 

Dr Michael O’Shea, Research Fellow at University College Cork, says: “WEDUSEA will demonstrate that a 1MW Irish-owned floating offshore renewable energy technology, the OE35, can produce clean power in a harsh Atlantic environment. This project builds on decades of Research & Development to which University College Cork has contributed. In particular, it draws on the findings of the Components for Ocean Renewable Energy Systems (CORES) project, funded by the EU under the 7th Framework Programme, wherein a 1/4 scale OE device was installed in Galway Bay. The learnings generated from WEDUSEA will pave the way for the next step in floating offshore renewables, for example the development of offshore arrays in locations such as the resource rich west coast of Ireland.”

The OE35, the world’s largest floating wave energy device. Credit: OceanEnergy

Matthijs Soede from the European Commission says:  “We are expecting WEDUSEA to take wave energy beyond the state of the art by the collaboration of partners with a multi-disciplinary background and that it will contribute to the deployment of arrays of reliable wave energy devices to achieve the 1GW target for 2030 as presented in our Offshore Renewable Energy Strategy. The current energy crisis shows that the use of multiple energy sources is important to improve the security of supply and a breakthrough in ocean energy would be welcome.” 

Myles Heward, Project Manager at the European Marine Energy Centre, says: “The innovative actions taken in this programme aim to improve the efficiency, reliability, scalability and sustainability of wave energy technology, and reduce the Levelised Cost of Electricity of the technology by over 30%. This will help to de-risk investments in wave energy.” 

The four year WEDUSEA project has three phases. The first phase is the initial design of a device suited to European Marine Energy test site’s ocean conditions . This will be followed by the demonstration at the site, lasting two years. The final phase will be commercialisation and dissemination which sees the capitalisation and exploitation of the results. OceanEnergy and other consortium companies will actively exploit the results through new innovations, products and services. The results will also be disseminated to feed both environmental databases and IEC electrotechnical standards.

Rémi Gruet, CEO of  the trade association Ocean Energy Europe, adds: “Wave energy is at full-scale stage now and projects like WEDUSEA are paving the way for pilot farms and sector-wide industrialisation. As an EU-UK collaboration project, it will demonstrate the potential for wave energy to make a significant contribution to the EU Green Deal target. Wave energy will help smooth production peaks or dips from variable wind and ensure European energy independence.”

Disclaimer: Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.