TEAMER Network Director Announces RFTS 14 Technical Support Recipients
On December 17, 2024, the U.S. Testing Expertise and Access to Marine Energy Research (TEAMER) program announced the selection of 15 projects through its fourteenth Request for Technical Support (RFTS), reflecting a total funding amount of nearly $1.9 million. These projects will receive support for testing expertise and access to numerical modeling, laboratory or bench testing, tank/flume testing, and expertise within the growing TEAMER Facility Network. Selected applicants, along with their supporting Facility, will now submit their completed Test Plans, a requirement before assistance activities can commence. Applications for RFTS 15 are currently being accepted through February 7, 2025.
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:
Deep Anchor Solutions Inc.
Advancing the Deeply Embedded Ring Anchor (DERA) through ABS Certification and Risk Assessment
Facility: American Bureau of Shipping
Deep Anchor Solutions (DAS) seeks technical support to certify its innovative Deeply Embedded Ring Anchor (DERA) through the ABS New Technology Qualification (NTQ) process. DERA, designed for floating marine renewable energy systems, offers enhanced geotechnical performance while significantly cutting material, manufacturing, and installation costs. DAS has demonstrated DERA’s performance through numerical simulations and lab tests, but now requires a detailed risk assessment and certification to meet Class/Industry standards. ABS will review all designs, drawings, and technical reports while conducting comprehensive engineering evaluations and risk assessments to ensure compliance. Achieving certification will not only support DAS’s success but also contribute to the marine energy sector by providing working reference cases of certified systems and boosting industry confidence.
Hydrokinetic Energy Corp.
Testing of Hydrokinetic Turbine in Open Water Conditions under Third-Party Surveillance
Facility: American Bureau of Shipping
HEC will demonstrate proof of concept through ½ scale and later full-scale prototypes testing and production of IEC-recommended performance/verification data at College of the Florida Keys’ Test Site. HEC has built and tested 6 prototypes since 2015. HEC will conduct testing on Prototype #7 (1/2 scale – 0.75 m rotor diameter) during this RFTS #14 (full scale – 1.5 m rotor diameter)in a later RFTS.) The objective is to develop a fully functional Hydrokinetic Turbine for long-term usage/installation in grid connected and non-connected or ‘end of the line’ locations. HEC’s Turbine design is well-suited for installations in microgrids such as military installations, non-grid-connected and connected coastal community end-users with good tidal flow.
Laminar Scientific Inc.
Novel Nearshore Mooring Method to reduce CapEx
Facility: AMOG Consulting
Laminar Scientific has developed a novel mooring method for nearshore use-cases that allows operators to install or remove a WEC at the sea surface, specifically for WECs that do drop a reaction body (due to shallow water operations). The purpose of this project, with AMOG Consulting, is to first carry out a comparative study of different installation methods vs. Laminar’s novel method, by comparing installation cost, labor hours (ease) and equipment needed, which affect LCOE. Secondly, a numerical analysis shall occur of several cases to check for mooring system response to understand whether snap loading will occur, whether the WEC motion is significantly affected and if budget permits, what the extreme condition response would be.
Michigan State University
Floating Offshore Platform and Wave Energy Converter Integration: A Comprehensive Wave Tank Evaluation
Facility: University of Michigan
It is estimated that the annual average wave power along North America’s ocean-facing coastlines could fulfill about 80% of the continent’s electricity needs. However, much of this potential remains untapped due to the high costs associated with current wave energy converters (WECs). Integrating WECs with offshore floating platforms to share infrastructure presents a promising solution, and the oil and gas industry is actively exploring the conversion of mature platforms into renewable energy hubs. Nevertheless, traditional WECs often sacrifice platform stability for higher energy conversion efficiency. This request for technical support seeks to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of a novel nonlinear power take-off (PTO) unit in a wave tank setting. The goal is to facilitate efficient wave energy conversion while maintaining the integrity of the platform.
Morlais – Marine Characterisation Research Project
Improving Imaging Sonar Classification through Sensor Fusion for Tidal Energy Environmental Monitoring
Facility: MarineSitu
Menter Môn is managing the development of the Morlais tidal demonstration zone off Anglesey in Wales and collaborating with Seiche and MarineSitu to develop an environmental monitoring system for this site. From October 2024 to September 2025 a prototype monitoring system will be deployed at this site to collect environmental data and demonstrate the monitoring methodologies that will be used to monitor 4 Magallanes turbines starting in 2026. Through this project MarineSitu will enhance the current monitoring capabilities by developing a sensor fusion model incorporating data from the imaging sonar, optical cameras, and passive acoustics to improve species classification. This project builds on previous TEAMER efforts supported by MarineSitu to advance tidal energy monitoring and has direct application to monitoring a grid scale tidal array.
Ocean Energy USA LLC
Evaluation of Station Keeping Effects on the Performance of the OE35 Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter
Facility: Sandia National Laboratories
Ocean Energy USA LLC (OE) with Sandia National Laboratory have been developing a high fidelity computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the OE-35 Oscillating Water Column Wave Energy Converter (WEC) using open-source software. This numerical model was validated using existing tank test data with a simplified mooring. The next step in understanding open-ocean performance is to incorporate a more realistic mooring system into the simulation. The coupled open source models, OpenFOAM and MoorDyn will model the WEC hydrodynamics of the OE35 under the coupled forces of realistic mooring lines and will be validated using tank test data from OE. All results, lessons learned, and usage guides will be made available to the marine energy industry.
Ocergy
Feasibility study for incorporating wave energy into the OCG-Data platform
Facility: Sandia National Laboratories
Ocergy’s OCG-Data is an autonomous, self-powering, multi-instrumented platform designed to gather pre-deployment data for the development and permitting of offshore renewable energy projects. It addresses two main markets: biodiversity and metocean data acquisition, with the possibility to mutualize campaigns to decrease overall project costs. The OCG-Data current power system includes solar panels, wind turbines, and lithium batteries. Monitoring platforms must have high availability of onboard instrumentation requiring a reliable source of power and storage. Ocergy would like to further diversify and increase the power generation, starting with a feasibility study on the incorporation of wave power into the system design. The OCG-Data has limited space above water to deploy more solar and wind and WECs provide an option that will not take up deck space.
Orbital Marine Power
Engineering Design for Adaptable Environmental Monitoring Packages for Floating Tidal Turbines
Facilities: University of Washington, MarineSitu
Tidal energy sites present unique challenges for environmental monitoring, requiring tailored solutions. While Orbital Marine Power’s O2-X platform offers flexibility in instrumentation positioning, developing customized integration strategies can be cost-prohibitive. To address this, Orbital will collaborate with the University of Washington’s Applied Physics Laboratory and MarineSitu, Inc., along with international partners in the U.K. and Canada. Together, we aim to create standardized mechanical, electrical, communications, and software interfaces to meet diverse monitoring needs across project sites. This initiative will streamline the regulatory consenting process by establishing clear instrumentation parameters early in discussions, accelerating project timelines and enhancing tidal energy development efficiency while supporting the sustainable growth of marine renewable energy.
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Flume-scale testing of blade-integrated collision monitoring
Facility: University of Washington
The risk of collision between marine fauna and tidal turbines remains a priority environmental concern associated with tidal and riverine energy development. However, data collection to assess this risk has proven challenging. We are developing a new method to monitor for collisions using blade-integrated strain gauges. Preliminary testing in ideal flow conditions indicates that this general approach can detect collisions, but further testing is needed with more realistic flows and more robust data collection methods to determine the feasibility in the field. We are seeking funding to conduct laboratory testing in realistic flow conditions in the University of Washington’s Alice C. Tyler Flume.
PEAK LLC
Technology Evaluation of A Novel Coastal Wave Energy Converter FlexOWC
Facilities: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories
PEAK LLC is developing a new device (here referred to as FlexOWC) based on a novel technology: the FlexOWC is a wave energy converter (WEC) that will produce electric power at a lower cost compared to that of a standard device of the same size. The cost reduction is achieved via using flexible material, integration of the WEC in breakwater structures, and the optimization of the device control. PEAK would like to avail of the technology evaluation offered by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) and Sandia National Lab (SNL) to maximize the chance of successful development and commercialization of their WEC technology. NREL and SNL will create a technology development advisory that provides specific prioritized recommendations for a robust and defensible technology development plan.
Poseidon’s Kite, LLC
Tank Testing of Wave Energy Panel
Facility: Stevens Institute of Technology
Poseidon’s Kite, LLC conceived of the wave energy panel (WEP) to absorb energy from ocean waves. The WEP is an enhanced oscillating surge wave energy converter (OSWEC), which utilizes a flexible membrane-type panel instead of a rigid panel to create a concave shape on the side of the WEP membrane being impacted by the wave orbital velocity. The shape of the WEP membrane reverses when the direction of the wave orbital velocity reverses to maximize the energy that is extracted from the wave by the WEP when moving in both directions. The performance of scale models of the WEP will be measured and characterized in Stevens Institute of Technology’s Wave Tank to determine the range of performance and efficiency by determining the capture width ratio.
Sitkana
Technology Evaluation and Development Advisory of Sitkana Technology
Facility: Sandia National Laboratories
Sitkana is taking a small-scale modular approach to ocean energy focused on accessibility. Sitkana’s technology was inspired though biomimicry of Southeast Alaskan wildlife, and as a result, looks different than industry competitors. These differences include a plastic 3d-printed drag-based rotor design, fixed blade positioning, aft rotor placement, modularity, weighted cabled devices, and passively aligning system. The unique aspects of this design prioritize ease-of-use in maritime and small community power applications. A holistic Technology Evaluation and Development Assessment completed through TEAMER will identify high-impact R&D areas to guide future development and suggest remediation pathways by which any problem areas can be economically addressed . This techno-economic analysis from a trusted research institute represents commercial readiness and would help greatly when describing Sitkana’s technology to new audiences.
University of Minnesota Duluth
System Identification Wave Tank Testing for a Wall-Mounted Vertical OSWEC
Facility: Michigan Technological University
Wave energy converter (WEC) dynamic models to inform control strategies to maximizing operational efficiency leverage wave tank testing to improve dynamic model formulations. This project employs proven wave tank testing methods to develop system identification parameters that are necessary for WEC dynamic model development. A wall-mounted vertical oscillating surge WEC (OSWEC) will be tested in the MTU Wave facility. Experiments will measure OSWEC position and forces and wave characteristics across a range of frequencies and amplitudes. WEC device impedance and excitation transfer functions, both of which are essential elements for developing WEC control strategies, will be developed using experimental data. Advancing vertical OSWEC dynamics knowledge could enable new deployment opportunities for coastal infrastructure or offshore structure foundations while simultaneously leveraging techniques for lowering the LCOE.
Wavepiston A/S
Technology Evaluation & Advisory for the Wavepiston WEC
Facilities: Sandia National Laboratories, National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Wavepiston’s unique and groundbreaking technology harnesses the energy of ocean waves to produce clean electricity and desalinated water, thereby addressing two of the world’s largest problems, 1) the extensive use of fossil fuels and 2) freshwater scarcity. To help Wavepiston achieve commercial viability, Sandia and NREL will provide a third-party technology evaluation and development advisory (TEDA) to critically review Wavepiston’s technology performance drivers and improvement opportunities from an innovative and holistic perspective. The TEDA is a three-step, iterative process that includes (1) a detailed technology description, (2) technology evaluation with the technology performance level (TPL) assessment tool, and (3) technology development plan derived from TPL outcomes, that identifies pathways for improving low performing technology areas and improves overall system knowledge.