Dutch wave energy converter to be dry tested before deployment at offshore test site

Dutch wave energy company Slow Mill Sustainable Power has moved its wave energy converter (WEC) from the harbor in Den Helder, the Netherlands, to the dry testing site.

Besides dry testing at the site, Slow Mill Sustainable Power will also be setting up the WEC for offshore preparation.

The 40 kW wave energy generator will undergo “rigorous” dry testing before being deployed at the offshore test site (OTS) in Scheveningen. This testing series aims to validate a fully functional system (TRL 6), its energy production capacity, and its survivability after one year of deployment, said Slow Mill Sustainable Power.

Previous offshore tests in 2022 demonstrated the robustness of the structural design for the North Sea wave climate. The WEC was installed in the coastal waters of the Netherlands to further streamline its wave energy technology. The anchoring system, blades, and device controllability have been improved. 

Upon successful tests, Slow Mill Sustainable Power said it plans to scale up and provide renewable energy to the Dutch Wadden Islands, with the combination of wave and wind at sea seen as a profitable business model by the company.

“Wave energy has a huge potential to contribute to a stable and reliable energy grid due to its complementarity with wind and solar,” said the company in a social media post.

“We are convinced that wave energy will play a substantial role in the future. In the North Sea region and for Europe. Our vision and determination leads us to work relentless to make it happen!”

The Slow Mill – 40 is a heave-and-surge WEC that makes use of the up and down, and back and forth motion of the waves in the whole water column to produce clean power.

The device works by making use of rotating water particles, as it has been specifically designed to follow this movement and to come into resonance with the wave to convert its energy optimally.

When the waves recede, they take the Slow Mill back to its starting position, and a winch reels in the cable, preparing the device for the next wave.

In June 2022, Slow Mill Sustainable Power completed the engineering and construction of the device, launching it in a harbor.

A few weeks later, the device was towed four kilometers off the coast and released to reach a vertical position with the floater above the water. The device, scaled at 1:2.5, was attached to a 50-tonne concrete anchor installed in 2018, which has been researched for its benefits to local biodiversity.