Wave energy – the challenge, the opportunity Neil Davidson, Public Affairs Manager, Aquamarine Power

Aquamarine Power is a technology company that has developed a product called Oyster which produces electricity from ocean wave energy. .

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Why nearshore

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Global market potential

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• Exploitable wave resource o Estimated at 80,000TWh/year (world

electricity consumption x5)

• Size of the Oyster market o 600GW raw resource o 64GW – global commercial Oyster

resource o 14GW – European commercial

Oyster resource o £192 billion – global Oyster market

Economic and social potential

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Jobs – 26,000 direct EU jobs from ocean energy in 2020 – 314,000 direct EU jobs from ocean energy in 2050 – new opportunities in European coastal communities

Renewable energy targets – 5% of EU energy demand in 2050 – avoid 136 MT/MWh of CO2 emissions in 2050. – diversify and enhance the security of renewable

electricity portfolios – maximise value from offshore wind infrastructure, grid

and supply chain

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Reducing the cost of power

• Industry goal – to be cost-competitive with offshore wind

• Decrease costs over time – through engineering excellence, wave tank and computer modelling

• Economies of scale - need to deploy and test at scale

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How to get there – three key elements

Time

Learning

EOS LBD

R&D

• R&D

• Learning by doing

• Economies of scale

Cost of energy components

Oyster 1 installation

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Oyster 800 design improvements

• More powerful • Simpler to install • Easy to maintain • More efficient • More economic

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Oyster 800 installation

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Oyster 800 installation

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Oyster 801

• Monopile • FRP • More cost effective • More efficient

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Oyster 801 cost reduction – drilling/piling

Oyster 1: four piles £1,034,880 Oyster 800: two piles £700,000 Oyster 801 / 802: mono pile £400,000 Cost per device = £200,000

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Multiple challenges remain

Large R&D component including: • Systems engineering • Flap design • Cylinder modules • Control and instrumentation • Hydraulics • Support structures

Strains under pitching

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Modeling strains on flap design

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Sub-structure research

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Learning from the wind industry

Spheroidal Graphite Iron (SGI) • Used extensively in the wind turbine

industry • Better fatigue properties • Dimensionally stable – good quality

castings

• Performance in sea water unknown

ETP studentship – force feedback dynamometer

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Currently the damping torque that can be applied to models in the wave tank cannot be changed dynamically during tests

Crucial role for ETP

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Neil Davidson Public Affairs Manager Tel: +44 (0) 131 524 1449 Mob: +44 (0) 7545 735402 Email: neil.davidson@aquamanriepower.com Aquamarine Power Elder House, 24 Elder Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3DX Tel: +44 (0) 131 524 1440 Fax: +44 (0) 131 524 1444 Web: www.aquamarinepower.com

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