Recipient organisationOffshore Wave Energy Limited
Funding£2.5M
PeriodJan 2011 — Mar 2016
In plain English
AI plain-English summary
A 350-kilowatt wave energy converter, shaped like a floating horizontal duct open at one end, will be moored off the coast of Cornwall in early 2013 to prove it can generate electricity from ocean waves at large scale. Most wave energy devices are complex, expensive, and struggle to survive harsh marine conditions. OWEL’s design uses the horizontal motion of wave crests to compress air and drive a conventional turbine, with few moving parts and none touching seawater. This simplicity aims to keep construction and maintenance costs low. The project’s core question is whether the concept works reliably in a real ocean environment, not just in a lab. If the demonstrator succeeds, it will pave the way for a commercial product: a 2–3 megawatt platform combining multiple ducts, planned for sale from 2016. That would represent a step toward practical, low-maintenance wave power that could feed into the UK’s energy grid. The project is a marine engineering demonstration, not fundamental science—its value depends on whether the hardware survives and performs as designed.
View original technical description
Offshore Wave Energy Limited’s (OWEL) wave energy converter is a floating horizontal duct, open at one end to capture oncoming waves. It is designed to be moored offshore in highly energetic, deep water locations. OWEL uses the horizontal motion of wave crests to repeatedly capture and compress air in order to drive a conventional, unidirectional air turbine. It has few moving parts and none in contact with the water. Its robust design, simple construction and minimal machinery will help keep the cost of power low and minimise maintenance. A single 350kW OWEL unit will be deployed at the Cornish Wave Hub facility in early 2013. This marine demonstrator will primarily be used to prove that the concept works at large scale in an ocean environment. This design will be a smaller version of a suite of commercial machines that will be developed for future deployment. The demonstrator will be developed by a national consortium of organisations that, between them, bring together the wealth of experience needed to successfully deliver a project of this nature: OWEL, IT Power, Ramboll, Narec, NPL, DNV, A&P Shipbuilders, Mojo Maritime, University of Plymouth and PRIMaRE. The overall goal of the project it to produce a costed and DNV accredited design for a 1st generation commercial product (rated at around 2MW per unit) by the end of 2013. From 2016 OWEL plans to sell this commercial product that will feature a number of ducts combined to form a single, 2-3MW platform. If you would like more information about the OWEL wave energy converter, please see: www.owel.co.uk.
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