Leading wave-energy firms will join forces with the global drive and control manufacturer Bosch Rexroth to build a standardised offshore generator that will provide electricity cost-effectively and reliably at sea. Work on the WavePOD (Wave Power Off-take Device) has already begun, and project leaders announced that it could transform the sector “in the same way the internal combustion engine made the motor car possible”.

The project aims to address the problem of transforming linear motion into electrical energy. The WavePOD achieves this through an offshore hydraulic generator housed in a sealed nacelle that generates electrical power, which is then cabled back to shore.

The new collaboration brings together project founders Aquamarine Power and Bosch Rexroth, along with wave technology developers Albatern, Carnegie Wave Energy UK, and Professor Stansby of Manchester University. It also includes Irish utility ESB, which is developing the European-funded Westwave farm off the west coast of Ireland.

Bosch Rexroth (www.boschrexroth.com) and Edinburgh-based Aquamarine Power are developing a tenth-scale prototype which will be tested at Aachen University, Germany. Louis Verdegem, ocean technology specialist at Bosch Rexroth, said: “Creating a way of converting kinetic energy into electricity is essential if we are to effectively harness the power of waves. Currently, cost-effective transformation of the captured energy into electricity remains beyond the industry’s grasp.

"This is due in part to the fragmented nature of current research and development, which is largely commissioned by individual manufacturers. However, through this collaboration we expect the use of standardised components and system architectures to accelerate learning and propel the industry forward.”