CorPower Ocean

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CorPower Ocean AB
IndustryWave power
Founded2012; 12 years ago (2012)
HeadquartersStockholm, Sweden
Key people
  • Patrik Möller (CEO)
  • Stig Lundbäck (Inventor)
Websitehttps://corpowerocean.com/

CorPower Ocean AB is a wave energy device developer, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. They also have offices in Oslo, Viana do Castelo, and Stromness. The office in Viana do Castelo is an R&D centre that also serves as the manufacturing and service centre for the wave energy converters (WEC).[1]

The CorPower WEC is a point absorber device, fitted with a "WaveSpring" that allows the device to be tuned and detuned depending on the wave conditions, optimising power capture while improving survivability.

CorPower have tested several versions of their technology, most recently the commercial-scale C4 device in Aguçadora, Portugal launched in September 2023.[2] Prior to this, they tested a half scale prototype C3 at EMEC in Orkney, Scotland in 2018/19.

Device Concept[edit]

The CorPower WEC is a rotationally symmetrical point absorber, i.e. circular in plan. The concept was inspired by the human heart, invented in 2011 by cardiologist Stig Lundbäck.[3] It is fitted with a "WaveSpring" technology developed at NTNU,[4] that allows the device to be tuned and detuned depending on the wave conditions. This allows the device to move more in calm conditions, and move less during large waves during storms.[5]

The device is anchored to the seabed by a "UMACK" pile, developed within the Universal Mooring, Anchor & Connectivity Kit Demonstration project.[6] It uses a pneumatic pre-tensioning system to reduce the mass of the oscillating body, thus increasing its natural frequency. The natural state of the device is therefore detuned to the period of ocean waves.[7]

The oscillating motion of the device is transformed to rotary motion for the generator by a cascade gearbox.[4] The gearbox was developed at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and features eight pinion wheels to share the forces from the rack evenly.[8] It uses a similar design principle to a planetary gearbox.[7]

The shell of the WEC is made from filament-wound glass reinforced plastic with a DIAB Divinycell H structural core. It is produced in a mobile system, that can be transported to construct the hull close to where the WEC will be deployed.[9]

CorPack Arrays[edit]

CorPower plan to install arrays of about 25 devices, in what they call CorPack wave clusters. These will have a power output of about 10 MW, comparable to modern offshore wind turbines.[3][10]

History[edit]

The company was founded by Lundbäck and Möller in 2012, with funding from the European EIT InnoEnergy accelerator program.[11] They are following a five-stage development plan, scaling up to commercial devices. Stages 1 and 2 comprised 1:30 and 1:16 scale model testing in 2012 and 2013-14, plus dry rig testing of a 1:3 scale power take off. Stage 3 involved 1:2 scale sea tests at EMEC in 2018, and stages 4 and 5 will be conducted in Portugal.[12] As of October 2022, they are finalising stage four.[3]

Initial development[edit]

Initial testing of the WaveSpring technology was conducted in November 2014 at Ecole Centrale de Nantes, France, in the Hydrodynamic and Ocean Engineering Tank.[4]

C3 testing at EMEC[edit]

In 2018 CorPower tested a half-scale C3 device at the EMEC Scapa Flow scale test site, which is not grid connected. This HiWave-3 project was supported by the Wave Energy Scotland Novel Wave Energy Converter (NWEC) Stage 3 programme, the Swedish Energy Agency, InnoEnergy, and the Interreg NWE FORESEA project.[13] The device was rated at 25 kW, was 4.3 m in diameter, and 10 m tall.[12]

C4 testing at Aguçadoura[edit]

In 2020, CorPower secured a license from the Portuguese Directorate-General for Natural Resources (DGRM) to deploy devices offshore of Aguçadoura in northern Portugal as part of their HiWave-5 project.[14] This is at the Aguçadoura test site previously used by Pelamis Wave Power for the Aguçadoura Wave Farm. A new 6.2 km long subsea cable was installed in 2022 by Maersk Supply Service, to provide communications and transmit power from an array of four devices back to shore.[15]

The C4 device was deployed at Aguçadora in Portugal in September 2023. It was launched at the port of Viana do Castello, and towed to the site, 4 km offshore. It was connected to the seabed by a bespoke "UMACK" anchoring system, and connected to the Portuguese electricity grid by a subsea cable.[16] Following a seven week commissioning period, the device started exporting power to the grid in October 2023.[17] In this first phase of testing, peak power output of up to 600 kW was recorded, and upgrades in planned onshore servicing after this may increase this to 850 kW.[18] It is planned to conduct a Power Performance Assessment phase in line with the IEC Technical Specification 62600-100.[18]

The 300 kW rated power C4 WEC is 9 m in diameter, 19 m tall, and has a mass of around 60 tonnes.[1][19] In February 2024, it was announced the device had survived 18.5 m high waves during Storm Domingos in November 2023.[5]

Prior to deployment at sea, the C4 drivetrain was tested for a year in a purpose-built dry test rig at the companies factory in Västberga, Stockholm. This allowed the company to debug the system and tune the performance.[16][1]

CorPower has partnered with the French company TotalEnergies to develop an array of devices at Aguçadora as part of the HiWave-5 project, which will see a further three CorPower WECs deployed in a small array.[20] It was originally planned to manufacture these devices between 2022 and 2024, although like many other things, this timeline was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.[1]

Future plans[edit]

In 2019, CorPower teamed up with project developer Simply Blue Group who want to develop projects in the UK and Ireland using the CorPower technology. It was hoped at that time to have projects exporting power by 2024.[21]

Simply Blue together with Irish energy utility ESB are planning to deploy CorPower WECs off the coast of County Clare, Ireland in a project called Saoirse. As of September 2023, the plan is to install an array of about 5 MW approximately 4 km from the coast, to be constructed in 2028/2029.[22]

Simply Blue applied in March 2023 for a license to deploy a CorPack wave cluster at the EMEC Billia Croo wave test site in Orkney.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d Knott, David (2020-09-13). "CorPower Ocean : Sea Change". EME Outlook Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  2. ^ "CorPower Ocean Installs First Commercial Wave Energy Converter Offshore Portugal". Offshore Engineer Magazine. 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  3. ^ a b c Hansson, Magnus (9 November 2023) [First published 25 October 2022]. "Human heart inspiration for wave energy". sebgroup.com. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  4. ^ a b c Todalshaug, Jørgen Hals; Ásgeirsson, Gunnar Steinn; Hjálmarsson, Eysteinn; Maillet, Jéromine; Möller, Patrik; Pires, Pedro; Guérinel, Matthieu; Lopes, Miguel (2016-09-01). "Tank testing of an inherently phase-controlled wave energy converter". International Journal of Marine Energy. Selected Papers from the European Wave and Tidal Energy Conference 2015, Nante, France. 15: 68–84. doi:10.1016/j.ijome.2016.04.007. ISSN 2214-1669.
  5. ^ a b "CorPower boosts electricity generation in calm seas with C4 wave energy device". www.imeche.org. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  6. ^ "UMACK Project Overview". European Marine Energy Centre. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  7. ^ a b CorPower Ocean AB (June 2018). HiDrive WES Power Take Off Stage 3 Public Report (D7.8) (Report). Retrieved 2024-03-02 – via Wave Energy Scotland Knowledge Library.
  8. ^ Viaintermedia.com (2018-02-21). "CorPower Wave Energy Converter Undergoes Testing in North Atlantic". Renewable Energy Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  9. ^ "Industrial-scale wave energy system enabled by mobile filament winding". Autonational. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  10. ^ "CorPack". CorPower Ocean. 2022-06-09. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  11. ^ "About us – CorPower Ocean - Wave Power. To Power the Planet". 2021-12-17. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  12. ^ a b "CorPower HiWave-3 at EMEC". tethys.pnnl.gov. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  13. ^ "CorPower deploys wave energy technology at EMEC". International Water Power and Dam Construction. 25 January 2018. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  14. ^ Smith, Sarah (2020-11-16). "CorPower Ocean secures license for wave energy project in Portugal". Energy Global. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  15. ^ Graeme, Christopher (2022-10-10). "CorPower Ocean Supplies Service installs subsea cable for HiWave-5 Project". Essential Business. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  16. ^ a b "CorPower C4 wave energy converter installed in Portugal". The Engineer. 2023-09-05. Retrieved 2024-03-01.
  17. ^ Garanovic, Amir (2023-10-13). "CorPower Ocean's wave energy device starts exporting power to Portugal's grid". Offshore Energy. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  18. ^ a b "CorPower Ocean announces wave energy breakthrough in Portuguese waters". www.theportugalnews.com. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  19. ^ CorPower Ocean (2022-06-15). "CorPower Ocean unveils commercial scale products to unleash utility scale wave farms". Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  20. ^ Chetwynd, Gareth (2023-12-05). "Beating heart-inspired wave energy technology is loved by oil giant TotalEnergies". Recharge | Latest renewable energy news. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  21. ^ Shumkov, Ivan (2019-07-09). "Simply Blue Energy, CorPower to develop wave projects in UK, Ireland". Renewables Now. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  22. ^ "About Us | Saoirse Wave Energy | Simply Blue Group". Saoirse Wave Energy. 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
  23. ^ "Marine Licence - Wave Energy Converter Array - Billia Croo Wave Test Site, The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) - 00010221 | Marine Scotland Information". marine.gov.scot. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
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