After 18 months of combined dry and ocean testing of the C3 Wave Energy Converter (WEC) at the European Marine Energy
Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, Sweden-based CorPower (www.corpowerocean.com) and its project partners have taken an important step towards proving the commercial viability of wave energy.

By verifying the ability to solve the two major challenges for wave energy — storm survivability and significant power production — a major milestone has been reached.

The resonant WEC tested adds new functions to wave energy that are key to unlocking this untapped source of clean and predictable energy.

A novel storm protection mode that makes the device largely transparent to incoming waves was proven to be effective in minimising motion and loads, providing robust operation in storm conditions.

This new function for WECs can be compared to wind turbines that pitch the blades to minimise storm loading — a function found in virtually all commercial wind turbines today.

A new phase control technology called WaveSpring has also been developed; this delivered the projected amplification of motion and power capture performance in operational sea states, enabling a three-fold increase in average power capture for a given buoy size.

The measured power production with C3 in the ocean was consistent with the expectations from simulation models and prior dry testing with simulated waves.

Elaine Buck, EMEC technical director (www.emec.org.uk), said: “We’re delighted with the success of the project, funded by Wave Energy Scotland.

CorPower’s WEC has been put through a rigorous 18-month test programme, beginning with onshore power take-off tests in Sweden, and culminating with ocean testing at EMEC’s scale test site at Scapa Flow in Orkney.

“EMEC has overseen the dry and wet testing of the machine, ensuring strict quality management and quality assurance of the verification process and providing performance statements for both stages.

“We are looking forward to further supporting CorPower as they develop their next-iteration WEC, using the learning from the C3 tests.”

Tim Hurst, managing director of Wave Energy Scotland, said: “This is the first of the WES supported technologies to be successfully tested in real sea conditions, and it takes us a step closer to demonstrating that wave-energy technology can be cost-competitive with other forms of low-carbon generation.”