Seabased and ORE Catapult roll out wave-to-wire optimisation tool

Swedish wave energy company Seabased and the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult have created a new software tool designed to help extract the most power from various types of wave climates.

The new software tool will help Seabased optimise its wave energy system from wave to grid. It will also move the company toward the anticipated certification of its technology at the end of 2021, according to Seabased.

When combined with the test bench currently under development, with continued engineering support from ORE Catapult, the wave-to-wire tool will allow Seabased to quantify the amount of power customers can expect from its wave energy technology in any given wave climate.

Simon Cheeseman, ORE Catapult’s Wave and Tidal Energy Sector Lead, said: “The introduction of commercial-scale wave energy into the renewables mix would be a welcome addition as we strive to reduce our carbon footprint and meet net-zero targets by 2050. ORE Catapult is pleased to be able to continue our support to Seabased with their ongoing technology development.

“Quantifying the energy taken from wave resource is vital to secure investor confidence and this new wave-to-wire simulation software is designed to do exactly that”.

Francisco Francisco, Energy and Environment Officer for Seabased, who has been working on power park array simulations for each wave climate, said: “We need to know exactly how much power is going through the wire. Working with ORE Catapult has been really helpful. My passion is ensuring the numbers are accurate and ORE Catapult is an industry leader in these kinds of simulations”.

The collaboration with ORE Catapult was partly funded through the Interreg North Sea Region’s Ocean Energy Scale-up Alliance (OESA) project, which aims to accelerate the development of marine energy technologies through strategic partnerships and international collaborations.

Simon Stark, OESA’s Project Manager, said: “This kind of collaboration is what is needed to bring the enormous promise of ocean energy to fruition. We’re really pleased to see this progress with our OESA partners”.

Seabased wave energy technology comprises a buoy on the surface that, when lifted by a wave, raises a translator inside a generator on the sea floor, producing electrical power.

Seabased’s system channels that power to a marine substation where the electricity is converted to a form usable by conventional grids, which is then sent out to provide CO2-free power to the grid.