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Clean power innovators have been trying to crack open the secrets of wave energy since the turn of the 21st century. The challenge is to engineer a device that can keep the clean kilowatts flowing economically, regardless of fierce ocean storms. All that hard work is beginning to pay off for the Swedish firm CorPower Ocean, which has just nailed down a new round of Series B financing totaling almost $35 million to help bring its heart-inspired C4 wave energy collector to market.
$35 Million Says Wave Energy Will Happen
Engineering challenges aside, wave energy stacks up nicely against wind and solar energy in terms of availability and redictability. The oceans are getting crowded with human activity, but land is even more crowded, especially in coastal and island communities.
Wave harvesting devices also have a much lower profile than offshore wind turbines, all but eliminating unsightliness as an objection (see more marine energy background here).
CorPower describes wave energy as “one of the largest untapped clean energy sources, amounting to more than all of today’s hydro or nuclear capacity.” The company cites an estimated total of 500 gigawatts’ worth of accessible, recoverable wave resources around the globe. Here in the US, wave energy could account for about one-third of the nation’s total electricity generation.
Though optimal wave conditions are spread unevenly, there are ample opportunities for wave energy innovators. CorPower lists the European Atlantic coast, the US west coast, South America, Africa, India, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan as the ripest regions for development.
Don’t just take their word for it. The new €32 million ($34.9 million) round of Series B funding included NordicNinja, which bills itself the biggest Japan-backed venture capital fund in Europe, and the world-leading energy investor EIT InnoEnergy. EIT notes that it has more than 200 companies in its portfolio, which have raised a total of €25 billion in funding so far.
The leading Nordic bank SEB also contributed its SEB Greentech investment branch to the Series B effort, along with other financial A-listers, including Santander Asset Management, Iberis Capital, and Cisco Investments.
Wave Energy Device Mimics Human Heart
CorPower has been surfacing regularly on the CleanTechnica radar since its launch in 2012. We last checked in back in March, when the company announced the successful completion of a trial-by-fire testing cycle for its C4 device off the coast of Aguçadoura in Portugal, an area known for its ferocious storms.
“Now proven at commercial scale, at the exposed Atlantic test site, CorPower Ocean’s C4 device has demonstrated unique ability to tune and detune according to varying sea states, limiting response to extreme storm waves (up to 18.5m) while amplifying motion and power capture in regular waves using novel phase control technology,” CorPower reported.
The tunability factor is the key to commercial success. Wave energy devices need plenty of mass to withstand being tossed about by heavy seas, but they also need to be delicate enough to operate efficiently during normal conditions. That’s where the human heart comes in.
“The human heart uses stored hydraulic pressure to provide force for the return stroke, thereby only requiring the muscles of the heart to pump in one direction,” CorPower explains.
“In a similar way, our Wave Energy Converters use a pre-tension system to pull the buoy downwards. Wave swells push the buoy upwards, while the stored pressure provides return force to drive the buoy downwards,” they add. “This results in an equal energy production in both directions and a lightweight system that is naturally transparent to ocean waves (detuned) unless actively controlled.”
Elections Have Consequences
CorPower already has a footprint in Sweden, Norway, Portugal, and Scotland. The US is next on its to-do list, with a test planned in collaboration with the AltaSea campus at the Port of Los Angeles. US policymakers could lend a hand as well, through the proposed Marine Energy Technologies Acceleration Act. The bill was introduced by US Representatives Nanette Barragán (California-44) and Suzanne Bonamici (Oregon-01) last summer along with half a dozen or so co-sponsors.
Whether or not the proposed legislation gets passed into law is up to the US electorate, so we’ll see how that goes after the Election Day results come in. If enough Democrats win seats in Congress to pass a climate-friendly (and veto-proof, if necessary) bill into law, the Marine Energy Technologies Act will significantly ramp up the nation’s investment in wave energy, applying “unprecedented levels of funding” to the Water Power Technologies Office of the US Department of Energy.
Again, that’s all up to voters. The last Republican to occupy the Oval Office summarily pulled the US out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on Climate Change, among other anti-decarbonization maneuvers. More monkey-wrenching is in store under a Republican president. The same goes if Republicans win a majority of seats in the House, the Senate, or both.
Still, the Water Power Technologies Office is taking a chance that its new wave energy program will win enough support to pass muster.
On September 18, the WPTO issued its biggest-ever wave energy funding notice, totaling an impressive $112.5 million over the next five years. The new program is earmarked for open-water testing and validation, aimed at heaving eligible devices up over the last hurdles to commercial deployment.
“This five-year investment will significantly accelerate the design, fabrication, and testing of multiple wave energy converters (WECs),” WPTO explained.
Fingers Crossed For A New Wave Of Wave Energy
The open-water milestone is significant because the typical device undergoes years of modeling, lab tests, and tank tests before launching into the sea. WPTO is looking for applicants that are ready to put their devices in the water for at least six months of trial, and potentially up to two years. Just a few years ago, the pickings would have been slim, but WPTO anticipates that up to 17 devices will meet the standards for funding.
From the $112 million total, WPTO has carved out $95 million in funding for devices that can be connected to onshore utilities, or that send electricity to desalination facilities and other systems that provide for the needs of coastal communities. The remaining $17 million or so is aimed at providing electricity for seagoing sensors and other at-sea systems.
The Biden-Harris administration followed up the funding notice on September 23 with a reminder from Energy Secretary Jennifer M. Granholm, who emphasized that the new WPTO program will “provide consistent, long-term funding to American developers so they can advance their technologies with the goal of providing millions of Americans with locally sourced, clean, and reliable energy.”
The administration also added a disclaimer that funding is “subject to congressional appropriations,” so we’ll see what the incoming Congress thinks about that.
Here’s hoping. Meanwhile, what are you waiting for? Concept papers are due by 5:00 ET on October 24. If you have any questions, tune into the WPTO informational webinar on October 9.
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Photo (cropped): The Swedish renewable energy startup CorPower is aiming to launch its fourth-generation C4 wave energy device into commercial development, with a $34 million USD assist from investors (courtesy of CorPower Ocean).
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