A lot of wave energy converters are already being developed, but only few are at a mature stage and none of them are commercially competitive compared to offshore wind. Bearing in mind that the wave energy sector has a potential to cover 15% of the European electricity demands in 2050, it is clear that wave energy development needs to be accelerated. UPWAVE aims to design and demonstrate a full-scale 1 MW wave energy converter in a Belgian offshore wind farm. Also the potential of combining wave and wind energy conversion in a common area with the use of shared cabling and maintenance will be analysed. This shall result in a more efficient wave energy converter, costing less and producing more energy, targeting on commercialisation once the project is finished.

 The concept of the wave energy converter within UPWAVE is based on the smaller-scaled prototype of the Danish company Wave Star A/S, which was in operation and connected to the electricity network in Denmark for more than 4 years. It uses a point absorber technology in which a series of semi-spherical floats on the sea surface are lifted up and down by the waves, and thereby power a generator.

 The full-scale 1 MW wave energy converter is targeting to achieve an annual production of 1.7 GWh equivalent to the electricity consumption of 400 average households.

Partners:

• Wave Star A/S (Denmark)
• Aalborg University, Wave Energy Research Group (Denmark)
• Ghent University, Coastal Engineering Research Group (Belgium)
  in cooperation with energy knowledge platform Power-Link, etc.
• Cantabria University, Environmental Hydraulics Institute (Spain)
• Parkwind (Belgium)
• STX France (France)
• IFP Energies nouvelles (France)
• Jan De Nul (Belgium)
• DNV GL (UK)

Further information:

This project is funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 691799 for the period February 2016 – January 2021.

More information on UPWAVE will be available on the project website (to be announced soon).