[The Vector] Ocean Energy Projects – An International Sampling

The Vector recently ran a story on the potential of ocean energy.  Following up on that story, The Vector is reporting on some international ocean energy projects that are being installed, tested or are in operation.  A further story on domestic projects will follow in the days to come. Ocean energy includes wave energy, ocean current energy, tidal energy, offshore wind, ocean thermal gradient energy, hydrogen production and more.

** Norway’s Statoil is testing the world’s first floating wind turbine called Hywind, a 2.3 MW Siemens turbine moored to the deepwater seabed. The head of New Energy at Statoil said that Hywind is really in research and development stage. “If we succeed, then we will have taken a major step in moving the wind power industry offshore. Floating wind turbines can make a major contribution…” (Press Release, Statoil.)

The Hywind structure consists of a steel cylinder filled with ballast of rock and water, extending 100 meters beneath the sea. Submarine power line was laid by Nexans Norway, which comes ashore to a local grid. This is a two-year test, launched June 2009, with the primary objective to see how the tough wind and waves affect the structure. If successful, Statoil will commercialize Hywind.   ** The first offshore wind power plant in Japan started operation in late July 2010. The 7 Hitachi-designed units are about 50 meters from shore with the wind turbine located on the downwind side of the tower. They were designed to withstand typhoons. Generated power is being sold to Tokyo Electric Power. ** The U.K. has provided 8 million euro for the European Marine Energy Research Center (EMEC), which serves as a testing facility for technology developers. The U.K also set up a 22 million euro fund to offset the large capital costs for ocean energy.

** BAE Systems (a defense company with 100K employees) has partnered with wave energy developer Aquamarine Power on a 1 million euro project. The U.K. awarded a 450,000 euro grant (which the partners matched) to support a 30-month research project enabling large-scale wave energy conversions. The Oyster wave converter is a floating-hinged flap which attaches to the seabed and moves back and forth in near-shore waves. It pumps high pressure water onshore to drive a turbine which generates electricity.

** Wave Hub, a marine renewable infrastructure project in the U.K. will create the world’s largest test site for wave energy tech, and should be complete by summer of 2011. It is building a grid-connected socket on the seabed about 16 KM off the coast of Cornwall. The latest stage of the project was announced July 20^th – deploying and connecting 25 KM of cable. This project is reported as a cornerstone of its long-term energy strategy for the area.

** OceanFlow Energy was recently awarded 560,000 euros in public funding to build and deploy the Evopod tidal energy device. The 35 KW test device (Oceanflow 35) will be deployed in the Sanda Sound (Scotland) in 2011.  The OceanFlow 35 pilot program serves the twin objectives of proving viability for community scale projects, and verifying megawatt sized devices in harsh environments.

** Seabased AB, a key European participant in wave industry, collaborated with Fortum Kellaniem in developing a Swedish wave farm capable of 10 MW capacity, says researchers at Frost & Sullivan.