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The teams have each secured funding from Wave Energy Scotland (WES) to demonstrate the potential of new applications of materials intended to bring down the cost of wave power.
The Arup consortium aims to show that precast reinforced concrete can be incorporated in a variety of wave technologies.
Tension Technology International will advance the design of its flexible buoyant pod which is encapsulated in a fibre rope net.
WES managing director Tim Hurst said: “Our goal is to deliver technologies that can produce power reliably and can demonstrate a route to commercial readiness.
“These two projects use materials that have a long history of use in the marine environment but so far have not been considered for wave energy machines. We believe both have real potential to be incorporated in future devices and bring down the cost of wave power.”
The Arup team is already working with Inverness-based wave energy technology developer AWS Ocean Energy to investigate the use of the technology in the AWS Archimedes Waveswing. The submerged buoy is itself a recipient of WES funding through another programme.
Last year AWS and Edinburgh firm Mocean Energy shared £8m to build half-scale wave energy machines, which will be tested in real ocean conditions later this year.
“One of the benefits of reinforced concrete is that it has a lower unit cost and superior durability to steel in the marine environment and could be applied to a number of wave energy concepts, especially where its higher mass can bring benefits,” said Hurst.
“At the other end of the scale, TTI’s Netbuoy offers buoyancy where needed, with the ability to flex under extreme wave loads. These awards will enable both technologies to make significant advances towards commercially ready products.”
The teams aim to demonstrate the ‘survivability’ of their concepts and their application in a range of wave energy devices. They will also work with supply chain partners to advance the commercialisation of their technologies and will provide open source design tools that can be used by wave energy developers in the design of their devices.
Ben Yeats, project manager at Tension Technology International, said: “TTI is excited to be awarded this stage 3 contract to further develop our innovative inflatable Netbuoy technology. The recent completion of the design phase has shown that our technology is applicable to a wide range of wave power technologies and can ultimately deliver a step change in the cost of marine renewable energy.
“Stage 3, which will include Scottish coastal field trials, will enable TTI to advance the Netbuoy’s technical and commercial readiness while exploring new markets.”
George Walker, associate in advanced digital engineering at Arup, said: “We are excited to work with WES to further develop our concrete wave energy convertor design and improve the commercial case for the sector.
“The previous stage included successful full-scale testing of an innovative precast connection to enable serial production of concrete wave energy devices. The next stage comprises integrating the material into the Archimedes Waveswing device to bring down cost, and development of a digital design tool to enable concrete to be exploited in the sector more widely.”
The WES programme is fully funded by the Scottish government. This month, Holyrood confirmed that it will provide a further £8.2m of funding for the WES programme in the 2020/21 budget.
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