EuropeWave launches wave energy concept development tender

The €20 million EuropeWave project has invited wave energy developers to apply for funding via its innovative pre-commercial procurement (PCP) programme.

The five-year collaborative programme, launched by the Basque Country and Scotland, opened its competitive call for tenders for the first stage of ‘concept development’ on July 5.

The tender, expected to see several wave energy projects selected in the process, will remain open until 1 October 2021.

The three-stage process will award R&D service contracts to companies or consortia who are involved in the development of wave energy converters (WECs) and their components.

After each stage is completed, the best of the competing solutions will be selected from within the group to progress to the following phase.

Concepts will be assessed according to strict technical and economic performance metrics, and the best performers will be demonstrated in Basque and Scottish open waters at the end of the programme.

The programme will focus on the design, development, and demonstration of cost-effective wave energy converter (WEC) systems for electrical power production that can survive in the harsh and unpredictable ocean environment.

A free-of-charge webinar will be held on 13 July, to provide potential applicants with full details of the call requirements, eligibility conditions and evaluation criteria, with an online brokerage tool also made available until 20 July to facilitate consortia building for the project.

Tim Hurst, managing director of Wave Energy Scotland (WES), said: “Today is an important step for the wave energy sector. EuropeWave is designed to pick out the technological frontrunners and propel them – and the sector as a whole – towards commercialisation. We are excited to take this highly successful procurement model and scale it up via a transnational project across Europe”.

EuropeWave is a partnership between Wave Energy Scotland (WES), the Basque Energy Agency (EVE) and Ocean Energy Europe.

The project will provide almost €20 million to procure the most promising wave energy technologies from across Europe and beyond.

Its PCP model is said to provide a structured approach, fostering greater openness, collaboration and sharing of risk between the public sector and technology developers.