Following EU nod of approval, ‘innovative’ €19.6M wave energy project proceeds to next stage

The European Union has approved WEDUSEA, a €19.6 million partnership project aimed at advancing large-scale wave energy commercialization.

Coordinated by Irish company OceanEnergy, WEDUSEA, which stands for “Wave Energy Demonstration at Utility Scale to Enable Arrays,” is a collaboration involving 14 partners from the UK, Ireland, France, Germany, and Spain. The project is co-funded by the EU Horizon Europe Program and Innovate UK.

As with other Horizon Europe projects, WEDUSEA underwent an independent review by EU-appointed experts. According to the project partners, the review followed the initial project design phase, ensuring that technical designs, plans, budgets, and protocols were evaluated and approved.

With the approval from the EU, WEDUSEA is set to move forward to its next phase. The project will demonstrate a 1 MW OE35 floating wave energy converter (WEC) at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) test site at Billia Croo in Orkney, Scotland. 

The OE35, developed by OceanEnergy, is described as the “world’s largest capacity” floating wave energy device. It harnesses wave pressure to drive a turbine and generate electricity, which will be sent to the UK grid via EMEC’s subsea cables.

Testing will happen over a period of two years in Atlantic wave conditions, focusing on technical and environmental performance, said the project partners.

“Wave energy is the world’s most valuable renewable resource with around 30TWh of potential annual production waiting to be harnessed. That’s almost ten times Europe’s annual electricity consumption,” said Tony Lewis, Chief Technical Officer at OceanEnergy.

“However, this potential has yet to be fully realised. The project will demonstrate that wave technology is on a cost reduction trajectory and will thus be a stepping stone to larger commercial array scale up and further industrialisation. We predict that the natural energy of the world’s oceans will one day supply much of the grid.” 

The project has three phases: designing and building a device for the conditions at EMEC’s wave energy test site, a two-year demonstration at the site, and finally, commercialization and exploitation of the project’s results.

Matthijs Soede from the European Commission added: “WEDUSEA is set to be a major catalyst for the wave energy industry, unlocking the full potential of this exciting renewable technology. 

The wave converter construction is set to begin in the second half of 2024, with the demonstration at EMEC scheduled to start in June 2025.

In March 2024, research from Finland’s LUT University highlighted the potential role of wave energy in the UK’s transition to a net-zero energy system. The study, which explored various scenarios for the UK and Ireland to achieve 100% renewable energy by 2050, identified that the UK should aim to harness 27 GW of wave energy. 

A report published in July 2023 by the University of Edinburgh found the deployment of just 6 GW of tidal stream and wave each will lead to a reduction in energy system cost of over £1 billion per annum. 

Just recently, another project also secured €19 million in funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe program. Named Ondas de Peniche (ONDEP), the project aims to deploy a 2 MW wave energy array with four WaveRoller converters off the coast of Portugal.