AWP backs out of Wave Energy Prize

The Atlantic Wavepower Partnership (AWP) has withdrawn from the Wave Energy Prize competition.

AWP, a partnership formed between Renewable Ocean Energy and AWS Ocean Energy, has been selected by the Wave Energy Prize administration as one of the 20 qualified teams out of 92 official registered teams.

However, the AWP team announced that it’s pulling out of Wave Enegy Prize competition earlier this week, stating: “The Atlantic Wavepower Partnership is disappointed to announce that it is withdrawing from the Wave Energy Prize competition. We would like to thank the DoE for sponsoring the WEP as a means to advance the ocean wave renewable energy technologies.”

Prior to the announcement, AWP team was working on the construction of 1:50 scaled multi-absorber floating terminator array AWS-III.

The AWS-III is a multi-cell array of flexible membrane absorbers which covert wave power to pneumatic power through compression of air within each cell. The cells are inter-connected, thus allowing interchange of air between cells in anti-phase.

Turbine-generator sets are provided to convert the pneumatic power to electricity.

Wave Energy Prize competition was launched by the US Department of Energy to encourage the development of wave energy conversion (WEC) devices that will achieve the DOE’s goal of doubling energy capture, thus reducing the cost of wave energy and making it more competitive with traditional energy solutions.

Image: AWS Ocean Energy/AWS-III