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OPT Initiative Aims to Reduce Wave Energy Costs
by StaffModern Power Systems, November 1, 2011 |
Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) is hoping to improve the efficiency of its PowerBuoy wave energy converters with the development of a new wave prediction model.
The wave energy technology company has launched a project in which it will work with a consortium of European companies to develop the model, which will be designed to boost the output of the PowerBuoy and therefore reduce the cost of energy produced.
The project will be carried out as part of the WavePort project, an EU-funded initiative which aims to accelerate the development of wave energy technology.
The wave predictor will work by assessing the characteristics of each incoming wave before it reaches the PowerBuoy wave power station. The station's electronic tuning capability will therefore have more time to react to each individual wave. The new technology will be incorporated into OPT's next generation power conversion control system and installed in a new PB40 PowerBuoy device being built in Spain under the WavePort initiative.
This PowerBuoy will draw on the experience gained through the development and grid connection of a PB40 in Hawaii as well as the successful in-ocean operation of OPT's first PB150 utility-scale PowerBuoy deployed in Scotland earlier this year.
Angus Norman, Chief Executive of Ocean Power Technologies Ltd., said: "The development of wave power as a viable source of clean energy is gaining momentum. We are now raising the bar with an innovative technology enhancement in tandem with the European Union's WavePort project to accelerate commercialization and realize greater PowerBuoy efficiency across our entire product line.
"Our expectation is that more energy will be delivered per ton of steel used for fabrication than many competing renewable energy systems." OPT was last year awarded 2.2M Euro of funding from the EU's WavePort initiative, which is part of the Seventh Framework Programme for research and innovation.
Related Pages:
Reedsport Wave Power Station, Portland, Oregon by Staff, Power-Technology, 3/11
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