Beating heart-inspired wave energy converter now closer to deployment (original) (raw)
Among oil and gas companies, TotalEnergies has the biggest and most varied pipeline of renewable energy products, which it is expanding further.
Published: Dec 11, 2023 09:25 AM EST
A technology demonstrator deployed in the sea
French energy giant TotalEnergies has teamed up with Swedish firm CorPower Ocean to tap into wave energy, an upcoming method of generating power from renewable sources. The collaboration will work on a technology pilot being conducted at the Aguçadoura site in northern Portugal.
Just like the blowing wind, the waves of the sea are a recurrent phenomenon that can be potentially tapped into as a source of energy. Interesting Engineering has covered multiple innovative wave energy converter (WEC) designs in the past. However, the technology now appears to be maturing and is believed to be close to beating fossil fuels on price.
Swedish firm CorPower Ocean is one of the many companies working in this direction. Their WEC design is not radical in any way, and perhaps this is why the company has been able to work consistently on bringing it closer to reality. Established in 2012, the company has put its WEC through a structured five-stage development process and is now closer to commercialization.
<h2class="h3-style">Beating heart design
The design of CorPower Ocean’s WEC came from the mind of Stig Lundbäck, a doctor with the mind of an engineer and a man with many patents to his name. The concept was first thought of in 2009, but it would take another three years to establish a formal company that would make it its mission.
In this design, the motion of the waves is converted into rotational motion by a gearbox in the energy converter. The rotational motion can then be used to run generators to produce electricity. Over the past decade, the company has put the design through increasingly difficult stages of development and deployed its stage four (C4) device at the Aguçadoura site in August this year.
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In the following months, the Portuguese coast saw multiple storms, and the C4 weathered waves as high as 42 feet (13 m), testing its operational readiness. More recently, during a Red Alert that sounded on Portugal’s coastline, the C4 device passed its toughest test with waves rising 60 feet (18 m), and the device’s performance was measured from Stockholm in trying conditions.
<h2class="h3-style">Partnership with TotalEnergies
With TotalEnergies now on board, CorPower Ocean will carry out a further pilot program where the first full-scale C4 device will be operated, followed by a wave cluster demonstration. In Stage 5, three additional C5 WEC devices will be connected to form a CorPack, which the company says is a turnkey solution for generating energy from ocean waves.
The CorPack also consists of moorings, anchoring systems, intra-cluster cabling, and an electrical collection hub for power export, making it the complete solution that can be commercialized and scaled. In addition to gaining access to data from the pilot program, TotalEnergies will also share its extensive expertise from offshore installations, maintenance, and operations in this collaboration.
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“The Pilot Access Program is a powerful tool to build confidence in our technology and delivery capacity,” said Kevin Rebenius, Commercial Director at CorPower Ocean, in a press release.
“We see this as just the beginning of our journey with TotalEnergies and are excited about the global potential and the role wave energy can take in the transition to net zero.”
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Ameya Paleja Ameya is a science writer based in Hyderabad, India. A Molecular Biologist at heart, he traded the micropipette to write about science during the pandemic and does not want to go back. He likes to write about genetics, microbes, technology, and public policy.