New Cluster Member

We are happy to announce that the wave power company Ocean Harvesting Technologies AB has become member of GCE Ocean Technology.

In 2017, Swedish wave power company Ocean Harvesting Technologies AB (OHT) started developing the novel InfinityWEC wave energy converter. – There is a great opportunity for wave power to provide renewable energy to oil rigs, fish farms and shipping in Norway, says founder and CEO Mikael Sidenmark.

New Level of Performance with Advanced PTO Force Control

The InfinityWEC technology stems from 10 years of R&D focused on power take-off (PTO) systems with integrated energy storage, to provide the combination of optimal control and constant power output.

– To achieve this, InfinityWEC uses a very light weight and efficient technology with a combination of direct drive ball screw actuators and a pneumatic pre-tension spring system, says Mikael.

– Optimal control does not only provide dramatically improved energy output compared to linear damping used by many other WEC´s. It also provides the ability to control / limit the buoy motion and the PTO forces. This greatly reduces weight and cost of the system as well as improving the reliability and survivability, he adds.

Wave Power Suffers from Early Failures

Wave power have had a long journey with many different concepts and failures of early technologies according to Mikael. – But we need people to understand that InfinityWEC offers a completely different level of performance compared to early front runners such as Pelamis, who had great traction with several power utilities, but failed to show economic viability in the end, he says.

– The InfinityWEC can produce 1-2 GWh annual output with a 15 meter wide buoy and a total weight of 65 ton, compared to Pelamis P2 that could produce 1.5 – 2.5 GWh annual output with the tube shaped 180m long, 4m in diameter and 1350 ton device, Mikael explains.

Wave Farms with Flywheel Energy Storage

OHT is currently performing a case study for a 100 MW wave farm, consisting of 200 InfinityWEC units arranged in 10 clusters á 20 WEC units. A flywheel energy storage is located in each cluster substation to smooth the collected power to a constant and predictable output power.

– Using energy storage to smooth wave power is necessary for most applications, except maybe hydrogen production, since the collected power varies considerably even from a large number of WEC units, Sidenmark explains. – Flywheel energy storage is the ideal choice for us since we require high power and a high number of charge / discharge cycles. It is also very suitable for offshore installations due to its maintenance free operation, he adds.

Industrial Partnerships

OHT has a small specialised team driving technology development, the innovation process, the securing of IP, strategic partnerships, business development and project financing.

System integration, engineering and supply chain management is performed by partner Sigma Energy & Marine in Gothenburg (formerly part of Aker Solutions).  They also have industrial partnerships with key suppliers NSK (ball screw actuators), Bosch Rexroth (Pneumatic pre-tension system) and Teraloop (Flywheel energy storage).

Expectations and Contribution to GCE Ocean Technology

Even though Norway produces almost all its energy to the grid through hydro power, it offers one of the best opportunities for wave power in the world. This is due to the excellent wave climate and the plans to provide renewable energy instead of fossil fuels to run oil rigs, fish farms and ships according to Sidenmark.

– We are looking for strategic suppliers and customers for our InfinityWEC system in these offshore segments and also, investors to help us accelerate the commercialisation of our technology, states Mikael.

– What we offer is a break-through wave energy technology with the potential to become competitive to offshore wind power already in early deployment, with lower LCoE, higher energy output per used area, virtually no visual impact and more stable and predictable energy resource, he says.

– We also bring our passion and determination to make wave power part of the future energy mix, together with our interest to understand and establish ourselves in the Norwegian market, Mikael concludes.

Learn more about Ocean Harvesting Technologies.