US Wave Energy Prize: Race-on for 92 teams

Wave Energy Prize, a competition launched by the US Department of Energy (US DoE), has announced that 92 teams have officially been registered for the WEC device development competition.

This design-build-test competition is encouraging the development of game-changing wave energy conversion (WEC) devices that will achieve the DOE’s goal of doubling energy capture, thus reducing the cost of wave energy and making it more competitive with traditional energy solutions.

The official registered teams will now begin working to double the energy captured from ocean waves and win a prize purse totaling more than $2 million, according to Wave Energy Prize.

Some of the official registered teams include those from: 40South Energy, Perpetuwave, Oscilla Power, and Protean Wave Technology.

Julie Zona, Wave Energy Prize Administrator, said: “The composition of the participating teams truly demonstrates one of the benefits of a prize challenge, which is to encourage the inclusion of new perspectives. We’re very hopeful that the diverse backgrounds of these teams will help lead to the Prize’s goal of achieving game-changing performance enhancements to wave energy technologies.”

Registration for the Wave Energy Prize opened on April 27 and closed on June 30, 2015.

Since registering, the teams have begun work on the first requirement for the Prize, a technical submission describing their concepts, due July 15, which will be reviewed by a panel of expert judges.

According to Wave Energy Prize, up to 20 of the top teams will be named qualified teams based on their technical submissions in an announcement scheduled for mid-August.

Qualified teams will build a 1/50th scale model and will participate in small-scale tank testing for validation of their design concepts.

Finalist teams, which will be announced in March 2016, will have the opportunity to receive seed money to build 1/20th scale WEC prototypes that will undergo tank testing at the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Maneuvering and Seakeeping (MASK) Basin at Carderock, Maryland, beginning in the summer of 2016.

The team that ranks the highest after testing the 1:20 scaled WEC device model will be awarded $1.5 mln. The second team will win an award in the amount of $500.000, and the third-placed tam will be awarded $250.000.

The judging panel will include technical experts from Sandia National Laboratories, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Naval Surface Warfare Center – Carderock Division, and Ricardo Inc.

A complete list of the registered teams is available on Wave Energy Prize website.

Image: Wave Energy Prize