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Proven during tests off the coast of northern Portugal, the ability of the CorPower Ocean C4 device to ‘tune and detune’ in response to changing sea states also helped it survive waves of up to 18.5m.
“The progression marks a crucial milestone for wave energy, addressing the two major obstacles which have hampered commercial adoption to date – survivability and efficient power generation in normal ocean conditions,” said Swedish developer CorPower in an announcement. “The inflection point provides a firm signal of wave energy’s readiness for widescale adoption.”
Deployed in August last year, key functions of the bulbous C4 device were verified during testing, including power export to grid, automated control, monitoring, and safe operations and maintenance.
Described as a “key feature for competitive wave energy”, the ability to tune and detune the device according to ocean conditions allowed the CorPower team to maximise energy generation in calm seas. In ‘tuned mode’, the device was seen moving up to 3m in incident waves of just 1m, thanks to phase control technology that allows the system to start oscillating in phase with the waves.
Conversely, during waves of up to 18.5m during Storm Domingos in November last year, the device moved only tens of centimetres in the extreme waves.
“The tuning and detuning feature of CorPower Ocean’s WECs (wave energy converters) can be compared to wind turbines, where all modern turbines have a function to pitch the blades to alter the response to the wind conditions, limiting loads in storms while optimising yield in regular conditions,” the announcement said. “We believe that adding such a similar function to wave energy is key for making it a reliable and competitive source of clean energy.”
The C4 will be redeployed after checks and maintenance on land.
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