US Wave Energy Prize advances 20 teams to next stage

US Department of Energy (DoE) has selected 20 teams as official qualified teams for the Wave Energy Prize.

The 20 qualified teams, selected out of 92 official registered teams, have passed the first technology gate and will continue their quest to double the energy captured from ocean waves and win a prize purse totaling more than $2 million, Wave Energy Prize’s press release reads.

The design-build-test competition is encouraging the development of game-changing wave energy conversion (WEC) devices.

The aim is the development of a device that will achieve the DOE’s goal of doubling energy captured, which will in turn reduce the cost of wave energy, making it more competitive with traditional energy solutions.

A panel of expert judges identified the qualified teams based upon the quality of their technical submissions, which described their concepts in detail. Among other requirements, qualified teams will now build a 1:50 scale model and will participate in small-scale tank testing as a means of validating their concepts, according to Wave Energy Prize.

Official qualified teams are:

• Advanced Ocean Energy at Virginia Tech,
• AquaHarmonics,
• Atlantic Wavepower Partnership,
• Atlas Ocean Systems,
• CalWave,
• Enorasy Labs,
• Float Inc. – BergerABAM,
• IOwec (MIT Sea Grant College Program),
• M3 Wave,
• Mocean Energy,
• Ocean Energy USA,
• Oscilla Power,
• Principle Power,
• RTI Wave Power,
• Sea Potential,
• SEWEC,
• Super Watt Wave Catcher Barge Team,
• Team FLAPPER (Floating Lever and Piston Power ExtractoR),
• Wave Energy Conversion Corporation of America (WECCA),
• Waveswing America.

Phil Michael, Technical Expert at Ricardo, said: “We’re excited to see how these 20 devices perform during the small-scale testing, and we’re hopeful many will demonstrate a capability to achieve the DOE’s goal of doubling the cost effectiveness of energy capture from ocean waves.”

Finalist teams, which are scheduled to be announced in March 2016, will be selected based upon the requirements of Prize’s second technology gate.

These teams will have the opportunity to receive funds to build their 1:20 scale WEC prototypes, which are scheduled to undergo tank testing at the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Maneuvering and Seakeeping (MASK) Basin at Carderock, Maryland, beginning in the summer of 2016.

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Image: Wave Energy Prize