WAVE ENERGY SCOTLAND: Next Generation Wave Energy

Scotland has long been known as a global leader in the development and deployment of wave and tidal energy technologies, and is home to Orkney’s European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), the world’s leading wave and tidal energy test centre where, to date, more ocean energy converters have tested than at any other site in the world.

“We will continue to champion the wave and tidal energy sector,” the country’s government declares, where abundant natural resources and powerful seas combine to create the ideal conditions  to facilitate the research, development and demonstration to maintain Scotland’s competitive advantage and deliver significant domestic and export-led economic benefit.

REALISING POTENTIAL

Alongside the extensive work undertaken with the Scottish Marine Energy Industry Working Group to build on the Scottish marine energy sector’s many achievements to date, this governmental commitment and support continues apace through the Wave Energy Scotland (WES) programme, incorporated in 2014 in response to the challenges in obtaining private sector investment for wave energy technology developers.

“This was at a time of significant difficulty in the Scottish wave sector,” elaborates WES MD Jonathan Hodges, “when some of the key technology developers had entered administration. Wave Energy Scotland was created by the Scottish government as a subsidiary of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) to rescue the IP from those companies and to create a new, more structured way to develop commercially competitive technology, using Scottish companies, and to take that technology to the point where private investors could build enough confidence to return to the sector.”

Now more than a decade into its mission, WES’s relatively small team has been able to exert a significant influence on the sector, with close links to the European Commission as well as globally.  “WES is Scotland’s champion for the development of wave energy,” Hodges states, “and serves as the leading organisation dedicated to addressing the technical challenges within the sector, and our aim is to nurture wave energy expertise and to identify new solutions which enhance technical performance, expediting advancements in wave energy technologies and their associated subsystems.”

Awarding more than 130 competitive contracts and engaging over 300 organisations across 18 countries in little over a decade, WES’s efforts are rapidly and effectively supporting the sector to deliver reliable and cost-effective energy in way that are vital to securing private sector investment. “WES is at the heart of Scotland’s efforts to lead the world in wave energy development, providing the direction and structure needed to address the complex engineering challenges that wave technologies face to allow Scotland to maintain its position as a world leader in the sector.”

Published in February by the University of Edinburgh, the Future Economic Potential of Tidal Stream and Wave Energy in Scotland report, commissioned by Scottish Enterprise (SE) and Wave Energy Scotland, presents a scenario of an estimated Scottish market for up to 8.8GW of marine energy by 2050, with potential deployments of up to 12.6GW throughout the UK and up to 300GW globally.

“There is potential for tidal stream and wave energy projects in the UK to deliver more than £8bn in economic benefits to the Scottish economy by 2050 if we retain our leadership position until then,” WES adds, “supporting more than 15,000 jobs, including high-value employment in coastal communities and the Highlands and Islands.” The global export market for marine energy over the same timeframe could be worth as much as £28 billion to Scotland’s economy the report, authored by the University of Edinburgh’s Policy and Innovation Group, furthers.

“Wave Energy Scotland has been fundamental in supporting ongoing innovation in the sector and bringing technologies to the cusp of commercialisation,” says WES MD Tim Hurst. “This report clearly demonstrates the huge economic and societal benefits of continuing Scotland’s commitment and investment in marine energy to ensure it remains a global leader – using our natural resources for national benefit. It also highlights the incredible synergies with other energy sectors, such as offshore wind, allowing for sharing of infrastructure and skills into the future.”

MARINE ENERGY TASKFORCE

In the wake of February’s report, the UK government officially launched the Marine Energy Taskforce (MET), a strategic initiative aimed at unlocking the over 25GW of accessible wave energy capacity and 11GW of tidal stream energy that the country holds.

A collaborative effort led by UK Energy Minister Michael Shanks MP, the Taskforce brings together key stakeholders from government, industry, and academia to address the challenges facing marine energy deployment across site development, financing, innovation and supply chain growth. The aim of the initiative, to run for 12 months, is to develop a roadmap to support the growth of marine renewables and strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in clean energy.

“With a coastline stretching among the longest in Europe, it’s time we deliver on our marine energy potential and put our waves and tides to work,” Shanks declares. “We will work closely with industry to break down barriers, unlock investment and drive growth in coastal communities while delivering clean, homegrown power.”

Over the next year, the Taskforce will engage with industry leaders, policymakers, and researchers to develop actionable recommendations for scaling up marine energy projects; its findings will subsequently be presented to the UK government to shape future funding mechanisms, regulatory frameworks, and investment strategies.

“Innovation is a key tool in the path to commercial marine energy, with homegrown technology being central to the domestic and export opportunities ahead,” Hodges said. “Wave Energy Scotland has demonstrated a world-leading approach to innovation delivery and this Taskforce represents a fantastic opportunity to coordinate this support more widely across the UK’s innovation mechanisms.

“This will create a targeted and focused response to the remaining technology challenges and realise the economic benefits promised by wave and tidal.”

CLUSTER CONCEPT

The innovation vital to unlocking marine energy’s vast potential was on full show than in WES’s unveiling in March of a concept design for a multi-megawatt cluster arrangement of wave energy converter (WEC) devices.

With floating offshore wind projects moving towards deeper water locations with significant wave climates, it has been proposed that sharing space, infrastructure, services and supply chain with offshore wind developments can significantly reduce the cost of wave energy. WES’s own research revealed no marked loss of performance is expected for wave energy converters placed relatively close together, findings which encouraged WES to examine design options for clustering individual devices together in a way that allows them to be moored and electrically connected as a single entity.

“Clustering wave energy converters could be a key solution for wave energy array deployments,” Hurst revealed, “and an attractive option for co-location with floating offshore wind farms.” A cluster aims to benefit from a reduced number of moorings and anchors, reduced cable lengths, sharing local equipment and subsystems and improved maintenance access, WES details.

“The cluster concept project offered a fascinating challenge for Blackfish and it was great to work with WES to explore this topic in more detail”, enthused Tim Warren, Operations Director at Blackfish, with whom WES partnered to explore a practical and economically viable solution for clustering wave energy converters. “The creative innovation process yielded plenty of ideas and concepts so that Blackfish could use our marine engineering expertise to assess these in more detail.”