TEAMER Network Director Announces RFTS 5 Technical Support Recipients
On February 25, 2022 the U.S. Testing Expertise and Access to Marine Energy Research (TEAMER) program selected 9 projects through its fifth Request for Technical Support (RFTS) for testing expertise and access to numerical modeling, laboratory or bench testing, and tank/flume testing and expertise within the growing TEAMER Facility Network. The awards reflect a total funding amount of nearly $900,000. Selected applicants, along with the supporting Facility, will now submit their completed Test Plans, a requirement before assistance activities can commence. Applications for RFTS 6 are currently being accepted through March 24, 2022.
Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy and directed by the Pacific Ocean Energy Trust, TEAMER accelerates the viability of marine renewables by providing access to the nation’s best facilities and expertise to solve critical challenges, build knowledge, foster innovation, and drive commercialization.
The following projects have been selected to proceed:
Maiden Wave Energy LLC, Wave Energy – Multi-Point Absorber – Baseline Numerical Modeling and Simulation
Facility: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Maiden Wave Energy LLC is seeking to create a baseline digital simulation of our innovative multi-point wave energy converter (WEC). The outcome we expect, as a result of TEAMER funding, through access to world-class expertise by the nation’s leading marine energy experts, is to better understand the annual power potential of this design at various locations in the USA. This simulation work and the ongoing physical testing of our technology are complementary strands of research and the two complement each other to help move our marine energy technology forward.
John Nguyen, Twin Ocean Power
Facility: O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory
Twin Ocean Power is working with the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory, through TEAMER funding, to test the performance of its WEC design in a controlled laboratory environment, with the eventual goal of open-ocean testing.
The Twin Ocean Power WEC aims to be the most affordable solution for remote or off-grid communities to utilize wave energy for their electricity needs. It consists of three floating cylinders arranged in parallel to each other and connected by a series of interconnecting arms. Their movement relative to each other in the ocean rotates the arms around the central cylinder, which in turn drives an electrical generator. It has a simple construction by design.
Ocean Motion Technologies, Inc., Testing the Adaptive Wave Energy Converter at Oregon State University’s Large Wave Flume
Facility: O.H. Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory
Ocean Motion Technologies, Inc. (OMT) is fabricating the Adaptive Point Attenuator (APA), an improvement on point absorber and attenuator systems, which are well-known wave energy conversion mechanisms in the industry.
Through the support from the TEAMER RFTS 1 and RFTS 2, OMT has set up our WEC-SIM models and produced preliminary results on power output. The current application aims to request for technical support for a wave tank test in order to bridge the gap between simulation and small-scale experimentation. These efforts will aid our ongoing DOE SBIR Phase II Project which will result in a field deployment with our pilot customers. This proposal is requesting support in five areas: experiment planning, pre-experiment logistics support, experiment support during the tank test, post-experiment consultation, and data analysis support.
Orbital Marine Power, Environmental Compliance Methodology for Floating Tidal Turbines in High Latitude US Waters
Facility: Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
This project will follow previous studies that took initial steps in developing a site selection process based on environmental compliance and recommendations for deploying floating tidal technology projects in the PNW and Western Passage of Maine, with an emphasis on the differences in species and habitats in high latitudes.
ORPC, Underwater Target Detection Software Demonstration on the RivGen Turbine
Facility: MarineSitu
ORPC will facilitate MarineSitu to develop and demonstrate a real-time autonomous detection software for marine animal in the optical imagery of the RivGen turbine. TEAMER funding will support the customization and tuning of the detection software to be trained using historical images provided by ORPC, and possibly demonstrated during the spring salmon run in the Kvichak River. This demonstration would allow for an evaluation of the detection software and for a direct comparison with current manual review methods. The goal of the project is to reduce the environmental monitoring burden of this and future deployments by minimizing manual data review, lowering data storage and transfer requirements, and ultimately developing industry confidence in machine learning data processing methods.
Re Vision Consulting, Testing of Direct Drive PTO
Facility: National Renewable Energy Laboratory
PERSISTENCE is a USV-based WEC platform that can host and recharge different types of payloads. Its primary aim is to provide continuous power anywhere in the ocean worldwide. The system is being developed under the Ocean Observing prize competition that was established by the US Department of Energy and NOAA with an initial application space of monitoring hurricanes. We have been awarded a prize award in the design competition and are presently competing in the build phase. A first prototype will be tested under this competition at Carderock in summer of 2022.
The proposed scope of work has the objective of testing the direct-drive PTO system and provide us with the confidence to utilize the PTO system on an at-sea system.
Resolute Marine, Wave20 Site Selection Tool
Facility: Integral Consulting Inc.
In this project, Integral Consulting Inc. will develop a tool to aid in the selection of the most appropriate sites for Resolute Marine’s wave-powered desalination technology. It is envisioned that the tool will consist of a workflow containing a set of protocols, tools, and data sources adhering to relevant industry standards which can be used to assess various sites in terms of their suitability for wave-powered desalination. The tool will also consider the competition in terms of desalination powered by other renewable energy sources such as wind and solar.
Ultimately, the objective of this project is to develop a tool that will provide guidance on the workflow to selecting the best sites and provide links to referenced sources of information, tool, and datasets. The site selection will be based on both economic and competitive analysis considering relevant constraints to deploying renewables.
Triton Systems, Inc., WEC-Sim Modelling Support for Triton System’s Wave Energy Converter Projects
Facility: Sandia National Laboratories
Triton System’s Wave Energy Converter (WEC) uses an oscillating water column approach to provide a small-scale power source for ocean observing and navigational buoys. Triton is looking to leverage TEAMER funding to evaluate design geometries and parameters through WEC-Sim modelling and analysis. This will allow Triton to develop their WEC concept more accurately for a range of applications.
Virginia Tech, Compared techno-economic analysis on the floating point absorber type of Wave Energy Converters (WECs)
Facility: Re Vision Consulting
In this project, Re Vision will help to conduct techno-economic analysis research on the LCoE of two-body point absorber type WEC, and compare it against a single-body WEC at different power scales from 100W to 250KW.