Renewable energy sources like solar and wind can help reduce global greenhouse gas emission
and slow climate change. But they may not be enough. Waves can play a role too.
The energy surging in ocean waves within U.S. waters is equivalent to approximately 80%
of the country's electricity needs. While we can't practically capture all of that energy,
we could harness enough to help transition to a clean energy future.
So, why aren’t waves powering your home right now? Wave energy converters—which transform
ocean motion into usable energy—are still relatively new. Today, there are hundreds
of diverse prototypes vying for commercial success.
But at the Flatirons Campus in Colorado, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (or NREL)
can help prepare these prototypes by operating them in a controlled laboratory setting.
NREL’s ocean-emulating machines—called dynamometers—subject devices to the forces
they’ll face offshore. They check how devices connect to the electrical systems that transfer
the energy they produce to battery storage systems or the grid. The lab’s experts can
collect all this valuable operational data and help identify opportunities to improve
the device designs and help prepare prototypes for riskier, more expensive ocean trials.
So, really our role is to try and support the validation of these unique machines.
NREL’s infrastructure and experts can handle a vast range of designs—from bobbing buoys
to swaying paddles. Recently, the lab helped three industry and academic partners validate
their power take offs—the machines that convert kinetic energy from waves into electric power.
In 2019, for example, a team from Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University tested two wave energy prototypes and a power
take-off using NREL’s 2.50-megawatt dynamometer. The trial run proved their technology was
ready to take the plunge. Next stop: the open ocean.
Centipod Wave Energy also enlisted NREL’s help to test their new 60-kilowatt machine
outfitted with a type of permanent magnet linear generator.
Aside from being able to operate in high-force, low-velocity operational regimes, this machine
brings a lot of controllability into the wave energy sector. NREL and the 2.5-megawatt dyno
have been instrumental in executing this project because we’ve been able to use this
world-class facility. It will give us the tools to be able to improve the machine in the future.
Together, NREL’s three dynamometers can prepare marine energy systems, ranging
from watts to megawatts, for the rigors of ocean deployment.
Successful wave energy devices must weather aggressive seas, storms, debris, and corrosive
conditions all while extracting high levels of energy from ocean waves and delivering
this energy when and where needed. Thanks to NREL’s tools, C-Power learned
their latest design, the SeaRAY autonomous offshore power system (AOPS), could do just that.
At the lab, C-Power prepared their wave-powered device for a Hawaii deployment. They also
checked their seafloor battery system, which can charge underwater robots used in marine
research and more. Soon, the SeaRAY could help power the blue economy, providing sustainable
energy for booming offshore industries, like fishing, military missions, and others.
But NREL did more than validate C-Power’s device; they built its brains, too.
The brains are NREL’s Modular Ocean Data Acquisition system (or MODAQ), which will
follow the SeaRAY AOPS into the water to capture critical data on how the well the device operates.
We’re taking the next level of MODAQ, which is on this device. We collect the data, and
we act on it in one system. We’ve actually never done that before…I’ve never done
that before at NREL. NREL has a critical role in this project,
not only helping to provide the brains of the SeaRAY AOPS, but also helping with testing
and debugging and derisking the system before we get into the water.
It’s really expensive…to deploy a machine like this you see behind me right off the
bat in the marine environment…there are a lot of risks.
Something may go wrong and it's hard to get to and very expensive.
So, by doing things here in the lab in a controlled environment first,
we can make sure that everything's gonna work as expected and
take as much risk out of that process as possible. One of the main things I…look forward to
seeing from the SeaRay trials is the successful deployment of the system and integration of
the two devices…This is has improved and is helping industry mature
and address the issues of climate change
and power needs that the world is facing.
At NREL, our system and component testing and validation
capabilities for the marine renewable energy industry build on over 30 years of experience in wind, solar,
grid, transmission, and siting. With this expertise, we are now able to provide the marine renewable energy
community with the critical testing capabilities needed to take technology from lab to ocean,
and then ultimately, accelerate growth in the blue economy.