By Andrea Caio

This year’s combined Ocean Energy Europe / International Conference on Ocean Energy brought together the world’s leading ocean energy developers and policy makers to San Sébastian in the Basque Country.

Here, Andrea Caio (Mocean Energy’s Business Development Manager) reflects on a busy programme where themes of collaboration, beachhead markets and commercialisation came to the fore.

The fervent desire to attend every available session in a conference program is by no means a given, nor is the buzz of being once more in the company of motivated ocean energy comrades. It is even rarer to finish a panel discussion, step onto the beach minutes later, don a wetsuit, pick up a surfboard, and personally explore the local wave resource with friends and colleagues at sunset. We could get used to it, and have the Basque city of San Sebastián and the organisers of the OEE-ICOE 2022 conference to thank – eskerrik asko or ‘thank you very much!’ as they say in Basque!

Last week, Mocean Energy was on display with its peers during two programmed sessions: Towards EuropeWave Phase 2 (where we discussed our Blue Horizon 250 WEC), and a Technology Showcase (where we shared lessons from our Blue X deployment). From these and others, three prominent themes emerged: the significance of metrics, the conception and communication of value, and the need for greater collaboration.

The EuropeWave session demonstrated how the recently consolidated IEA-OES metrics[1] have been widely adopted by participating developers; a welcome step to more coherent industry progression. For one, this facilitates alignment with external stakeholders (e.g. funders), who can now ‘speak the same language’ as developers, but also aids the tracking of technology development internally. Through programs like EuropeWave – and previously Wave Energy Scotland’s NWEC[2] – Mocean Energy has welcomed the opportunity for objective competitive assessment. These opportunities are as rare as they are valuable. Just as investors struggle to pick a winner among numerous WEC developers (if indeed a winner is appropriate for the wave sector, given its underlying differences with e.g. the wind sector), so can developers struggle to gauge where they stand with respect to one another. Common metrics can facilitate this.

The sharing of lessons learned – a focus of this session – goes hand in hand with this intent. As an industry, it seems we do not naturally lean towards open dialogue. This picture is not always accurate, but is accurate too often. It is true that in some cases we are competing for the same funding – and competition is generally a healthy sign for the industry. But we are also driving each other to innovate, for which we continue to need greater peer collaboration: one that is not mired by a fear that “only a few will make it”, but built on the awareness that siloing our efforts brings risks to all. In this sense, the emergence of industry champions can only be good news to inspire confidence in the sector.

Interestingly, participating EuropeWave developers presented varied device scales, timelines, and commercialisation plans for Phase 3 and beyond; some are directly aiming for utility-scale markets with large MW rated devices, while others are looking to step there via 100s of kW rated WECs with off-grid use cases. Whatever the pathway, commercialisation plans will have to crystallise heading into Phase 3 – keep an eye out! Indeed, though metrics consolidation is positive, the success thresholds in each evaluation area and at each successive development stage are still nebulous. Not least because many are likely to vary across different target markets; what is ‘good enough’ will ultimately come from the stakeholders, and will depend upon the specific application, location, and end-use. Who are we building this for? What is attractive about it? This brings us swiftly to the theme of wave energy’s value, and its close cousin: markets.

Value is often exclusively reflected by cost; there is no explicit value on learning. However, to reduce costs and increase learning, one has to deploy. So how to break the cycle? Despite the lingering tendency within the sector to refer to non-utility markets as niche – a not so helpful framing for potential funders and investors – a clear need for more data remains, the most valuable type coming from putting ‘steel in the water’. Mocean’s approach of learning-by-doing, via its “small-mid-grid” roadmap, aims to accelerate this very process. Markets across the Blue Economy (such as islands & remote communities) are in fact sizeable, worth 10s of billions of Euros globally. They are neither alternative (they facilitate utility deployment in the longer term), nor emerging (they are well-established, albeit still growing). At Mocean, we prefer to use the term off-grid, or beachhead to describe them.

But “so what?”, one may ask. Well, if solar was first deployed for use in space missions in the 50s, it wasn’t until the 70s that it became efficient and affordable enough to be considered for use on Earth[3] – and this efficiency and affordability emerged after considerable NASA and international research funding[4]. Even then, it was initially used to power individual domestic items such as refrigerators, before its more recent and wider adoption as a grid-connected resource. Is it such a leap, therefore, to envision wave energy delivering local off-grid power in Blue Economy sectors before stepping up to grid-scale?

The second session also evidenced that the primacy of levelised cost of energy (LCOE), as an indicator of value, is beginning to dispel. Although minimising LCOE should remain a key target, its alleviation is generally good news. Considering the somewhat outdated energy ‘trilemma’[5] – describing the tension between energy security, environmental impact, and affordability – it is clear that the collective conception of value has thus far been skewed towards affordability. However, global trends may soon correct this. Energy system shocks, whether environmental (droughts, hurricanes, etc.) or political (war in Eastern Europe), are evidencing the need for greater energy security and grid flexibility. Diverse and local energy sources of electrons are key to these requirements; this is where wave energy can crucially contribute. Projects like EVOLVE[6] play a key role – e.g. illustrating how wave energy can command twice the value of wind energy when the wind is not blowing. Ironically, a diversified and more resilient system is likely to make energy also more affordable in the long run.

Ultimately, a healthy industry requires: technology, projects, pipeline, and funding (public and private). All of these ideally need to align at the same time. So what are we missing as a sector? Not so much technology; it feels like we have cracked the ‘up to full-scale prototype’, though demonstration of WEC arrays is still a ways off. More so the latter three. We also need data. How do we get it? Two potential pathways are at-sea deployments and large scale hybrid testing – see, for example, the IMPACT[7] project. From a public perspective, a mix of innovation funding and revenue support will be essential to scale up to initial arrays, as well as funding to reduce the cost of money and capital needed. We also need more sharing of risk at the international level, with funding available across more risk profiles. Ambitious targets and ORE strategy are the right signals, but these then have to be delivered. Private funding comes into the fray here.

In one of the closing sessions, the head of OEE posed the question, “what would you, as participants of the conference, need?”. Broader engagement and reducing the echo chamber tendency of conferences such as OEE would help. On a more practical level, can we involve stakeholders (including potential private funders) in funding programmes such as EuropeWave in the future? This would help them to gain an inside view and understand the sector more, as well as help developer growth – not easy, but we do need to take them (investors, go-to-market partners, potential customers, etc.) along with us. Technology Readiness Level (TRL) is generally high enough now, momentum and interest is on the rise – yet investment somehow still feels elusive.

The Chair of OES closed the final session with a call to “less talk, more action”. Borrowing the words of wave energy pioneer Stephen Salter: “apparent simplicity often turns out to be the extent to which difficulties can be hidden”[8]. The reality is more nuanced; we do need action, but action that is not disjointed and scattered across soloed efforts. If there is one thing we take away from the week is that: how we talk and communicate – in the industry and outside it – is just as important as our ever growing technical achievements. Positivity is great, but it needs to be boosted with an appropriate amount of realism. We have more challenges to solve as a sector, together.

Big Wave Surfer Sebastian Steudtner, who broke the world record for the highest wave surfed at a terrifying 26.21m and who visited on the first day of the conference said, “there’s always another more challenging wave to come”. At Mocean Energy, we’re ready for it!

[1] According to 9 Evaluation Framework Areas, specified in J. Hodges et al. (2021). International Evaluation and Guidance Framework for Ocean Energy Technologies. IEA-OES.

[2] https://www.waveenergyscotland.co.uk/programmes/details/novel-wave-energy-converter/

[3] https://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/nasa-inventions/5-green-nasa-inventions.htm#:~:text=5%3A%20Pushes%20in%20Solar%20Power,on%20the%20International%20Space%20Station.&text=Researchers%20at%20NASA%20didn’t,it%20was%20still%20largely%20uneconomical.

[4] https://solargaps.com/the-history-of-solar-technology-from-photovoltaic-invention-to-space-travel-and-solar-blinds/

[5] https://www.worldenergy.org/transition-toolkit/world-energy-trilemma-index

[6] https://evolveenergy.eu/

[7] https://www.impact-h2020.eu/

[8] S. Salter (2005) – A Personal View of Renewable Marine Energy. (Wave and Tidal Technologies Symposium)

The post Key themes emerge from leading conference on ocean energy appeared first on Mocean Energy.

The energy in ocean waves is 50% due to kinetic energy (the fluid particles move in ellipses) and 50% due to potential energy (the water surface goes up and down).

The wave energy industry is also split between kinetic (i.e. what is happening now) and potential (the opportunities yet to come), but this split may be more 10:90…

In this blog post, I’d like to tell you where we think exciting things are happening now, and where we see the industry going.

(This is by no means comprehensive, just our perspective. For a an overview of the worldwide activity in ocean energy see the OES annual report, and for UK activity, check out the UK Ocean Energy Review)

Kinetic Energy – the Here and Now

Right now, wave energy companies are finding applications in near-term, niche markets.

We think the best options are in ocean science (for example remote sensing of the environment) and in oil and gas (O&G), but there are lots of other opportunities too,  including aquaculture, deep sea mining, desalination, and providing power to remote communities (e.g US DOE Report).

In Ocean Science, the  US Department of the Environment and NOAA (The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) are running a competition called the Ocean Observing Prize for marine energy technologies that can be applied at small-scale to power ocean data systems.

This is an ideal application: wave energy for ocean science reduces the dependence on research vessels, which are extremely costly and keep people offshore away from loved ones.

There are already some wave energy technologies in this space and, while not the generation of power two companies , Liquid Robotics and AutoNaut have developed novel technologies that use wave energy for propulsion on long-range ocean drones.

Oil and gas. This sector – in particular subsea power – is very much Mocean Energy’s current focus where we are developing our Blue Star wave energy converter (WEC) to  provide kW’s of power to subsea equipment instead of umbilicals, saving costs and reducing carbon emissions.

We have just completed Phase 1 of our Renewables for Subsea Power project funded by the OGTC and with partners Chrysaor, EC-OG, and Modus which has examined real-world applications for Blue Star .

Already Ocean Power Technologies has had commercial success with a similar North Sea application for their PB3 technology in a project with Premier Oil and Italian O&G operator Eni.

Eni is not stopping there – and they have formed a joint venture to develop their ISWEC technology in a project off the Italian coast, which they are trialling for use in powering offshore platforms.

Tier 1’s are getting involved too. Subsea 7 has partnered with GEPS Techno, who also see opportunities in subsea power. Saipem is working with Wello on the Penguin, which is a large technology and likely targeted at platforms.

But they aren’t the only ones thinking big. O&G major Total, which recently adopted net-zero targets, is working with Floating Power Plant to evaluate their combined wind and wave platform for providing low-carbon power to platforms.

Potential Energy – the Future

For us, the potential of wave energy is big.

We believe the wave machines of the future will deliver MW scale power to the grid and we are very proud to have £3.3 million funding via  Wave Energy Scotland NWEC Stage 3 project, to develop a sea-going  prototype of our MW-scale WEC: Blue Horizon.

On its face, Mocean’s technology is a hinged raft. We like the hinged raft because it is a simple mechanical system, which when integrated with direct-drive generators ensures reliability. The hinge allows for large rotations eliminating the possibility of end-stop impacts, and the sloped “wave channel” on the bow cause the machine to dive through large waves; both of which ensure survivability.

But our technology is more than just a specific design, it is in the design process – we use in-house software and AI to evaluate tens of thousands of designs to arrive at the optimal solution.

This means our technology is very “scalable” – but we don’t design Blue Horizon simply by making Blue Star bigger. We capture the requirements and use our optimisation to maximise power generation while minimising cost and keeping within constraints of the commercial application.

So, the question is: what are the applications for large-scale wave energy?

First, like Eni, Saipem-Wello, and Floating Power Plant, we think renewable energy can offer massive CO2 reductions when powering offshore platforms.

As much power as a small-city is sometimes needed to power platforms (take a look at the lights in the middle of the North Sea!), and these platforms are often powered by gas turbines, which produce three times  the emissions per kWh as onshore power generation. In the UK, electricity production for offshore O&G platforms accounts for 2% of all UK CO2 emissions!

There are other practical use cases. For example, platforms during decommissioning and small platforms are often powered by diesel generators, which have to refuelled at sea and create a noxious environment for offshore workers.

Looking further down the road, the offshore energy sector envisions a large-scale repurposing of offshore infrastructure for hydrogen production and CCS, for which offshore renewable energy is an important component.

But one might say: why wave? why not floating wind?

A 5 MW floating wind weighs about 4-5,000 tonnes; a lot of that weight is in the structure that does nothing but float and support the turbine.

Whereas in a wave energy converter, the structure is the prime mover; it is not just support, but it is through the structure that energy is absorbed. The industry is also young, and the best solution is not yet to be found (we see this as a big opportunity!), and given the opportunity and time, wave can be very competitive with wind.

Whether you buy that or not, maybe you’ll agree that wind and wave are actually more complementary that competitive.

We envision farms of wave energy converters interspersed amongst floating wind turbines sharing infrastructure like cabling and foundations, bringing down the cost of the project and providing a baseload supply to grid operator because wind and wave often occur at different times; the argument is well made by fellow wave energy developer Seabased in  study they did for Galway Bay, Ireland.

While the industry is starting small (with small machines), wave energy has massive potential, both combined with wind and as the next big technology.

Every country in the world will need multiple gigawatts of renewable power in the decades ahead. We believe wave power can deliver affordable energy for that future! 

The post Founder’s Blog – The Potential of Wave Energy appeared first on Mocean Energy.

With the Wave Energy Scotland Annual Conference coming up, the fourth that WES has held and the fourth that Mocean will attend, company co-founder and managing director Cameron McNatt reflects on Mocean’s expereince in the WES programme.

Have you ever been waiting to find out something really important, something that would change your life, and with the assumption that one result would be great, and one would be bad? 

There’s a feeling in the pit of your stomach, an anxiety that can be oppressive.  

It’s a situation that is made worse when you’re surrounded by people, and by people that know you’re waiting on the decision, and by people that may even know the result… know your fate.  

At last year’s Wave Energy Scotland Annual Conference, that was exactly how I felt.  

Mocean Energy had submitted its application to move from the WES Novel WEC (NWEC) Stage 2 programme to the Stage 3 programme, which came with an award of £3.3m.  

Despite our best efforts to have a backup plan if we didn’t get the WES funding, co-founder Chris Retzler and I had no fall back. If we didn’t get the funding, it would have been the end of Mocean Energy. I would have been out of a job with a wife and three kids. And Chris would have been affected, and Andrea our IDCORE student, and Gabriel who we’d promised a job. 

But this year’s WES conference will be much more relaxing. Mocean Energy was extremely fortunate; we were awarded the NWEC Stage 3 funding and are halfway through our prototype build and test programme – fabrication is ongoing; the WEC will be launched in the spring and tested over the summer.  

I don’t blame WES for the situation – hanging-by-a-thread scenarios are part of being a startup, and it’s the path we chose. I just wanted to give a sense of the emotional experience, and I’d like to tell you more about our experience in the WES programme in as honest a way as I can. 

WES uses a unique technology evaluation system that gives space for innovation. 

As far as I know, Wave Energy Scotland is unique as a funding body focused on a specific technology sector and staffed by sector experts. WES personnel have outstanding credentials in wave energy and related industries spanning disciplines from technical to strategic. Many worked at wave energy companies themselves. And they all share a passion to grow wave energy into a commercially viable industry.  

WES created a stage gate process that enables a thorough and third-party evaluation of technologies throughout their development lifecycle; see above figure.  

For example, the Novel WEC programme began with a European-wide call for applications for Stage 1. Those applications were evaluated by WES staff and external experts to select eight companies for Stage 1, which could be characterized as “R&D and Concept Engineering”. Between Stage 1 and Stage 2, there was a stage gate in which the eight Stage 1 companies submitted application packs for Stage 2 that covered the results of Stage 1, the development plan for Stage 2, and technical and commercial ambitions.  

Again, the stage gate applications were evaluated by WES and third-party experts. Four companies were selected for NWEC Stage 2, which was roughly speaking a “FEED” (front end engineering design). At the end of Stage 2, the stage gate process was repeated to select two companies to enter Stage 3, which consists of the build and testing of a sea-going prototype.  

Technology development in any field, and perhaps in particular wave energy, feels the pull of somewhat conflicting drivers:  

1. Develop the best technology – this takes time and is often driven by technologists. 
2. Develop the technology fast – this reduces time to market and is often driven by investors. 

(For a more thorough description, see Jochem Weber’s work on Technology Performance Levels.)  

WES aims to support path 1 – best technology. They fund promising early-stage development, and while their programmes have structure and objectives, you design your own work programme around that. This gave us funding to develop our technology when it was only a rough concept, and it allowed us to develop it our own way – we focus on numerical optimisation to produce new geometries, and throughout the stages, we’ve incorporated three major design optimisations, giving us the opportunity for continual improvement. 

However, the WES programme also has its own rigidity. Each stage has a pre-set time limit, and at the end of a stage, developers have no choice but to move up in TRL; there’s not funding to repeat a stage. You can imagine that in some circumstances, a great technology may not have been quite ready to move up and needed a bit more time in early design. And if we had been left to our own devices, we would have spent more time at early stages ourselves.  

This is the trade-off, development speed is driven by commercial considerations, and this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. WES has its own customers:  the Scottish Government and the Scottish people – it needs to show progress and the best way to do this is to “put steel in the water.” 

The WES funding mechanism positions companies for commercial development and investment. 

But the same is true for Mocean Energy– the WES Stage 3 prototype build and test programme has been instrumental for us to get commercial traction. It is much easier to speak to potential customers when you can say, we are building a prototype now, which will take us to TRL 6. 

The WES programme uses a funding mechanism called “pre-commercial procurement” – and the key benefit of this is that WES can fund 100 percent of a technology development project. In contrast, most other public funding supports a percentage of a project (e.g. 30-70 percent), which means that the funded company must invest some its own budget or bring in external investment.

As far as I know, WES’s 100 percent funding support is unique to technology development funding (aside perhaps from defence and space programmes). This funding mechanism was absolutely essential to Mocean Energy being launched as a company. In 2015, when Mocean Energy was founded and when we applied for the WES Novel WEC Stage 1 funding, wave energy companies, Pelamis and Aquamarine Power had just collapsed after receiving millions in investment over many years. There was no way that Mocean Energy could have attracted investment to match grant funding. 

WES and the Scottish Government took a necessary risk, but it paid off. The situation for wave energy today is vastly different than it was in 2015. Mocean are engaged with an exciting emerging market segment within oil and gas as part of its energy transition; we are building a sea-going prototype that is one step away from a commercial product. And as we near the end of our WES journey, we are preparing for seed investment which will help transform us from an R&D company to a commercial operation.  

It is easy to speak highly of WES when we have been successful in the programme, but we think that the WES programme and the support from the Scottish Government have given wave energy another chance. We are extremely grateful, and we hope to do our part in creating a viable wave energy industry.  

The post Founder’s Blog – The Wave Energy Scotland Experience appeared first on Mocean Energy.