PRIMRE/Signature Projects/Wave Energy Prize
From Open Energy Information
< PRIMRE | Signature Projects
Signature Projects are intended to bring focus to a selection of the U.S. Departments of Energy's Water Power Technology Office (WPTO) projects. By designating a Signature Project, the project reports, data sets, and associated papers can be easily discoverable. By bringing together all aspects of a project, whether a completed legacy project or an ongoing investigation, the MRE community can be informed of what investigations have been undertaken, which have succeeded, what tools are available, and where gaps in information persist.
Wave Energy Prize
- Project Purpose
- The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wave Energy Prize aimed to double the state-of-the-art performance of wave energy converters (WECs), increase the diversity of organizations involved in WEC technology development, and enable top performers to become viable and competitive industry members.
- Project Description
- The Wave Energy Prize was an 18-month public design-build-test competition sponsored by the U.S. DOE Water Power Technologies Office Marine and Hydrokinetic Program. The Prize included three phases and four technology gates that progressively evaluated each team's technology and culminated in a test at the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Maneuvering and Seakeeping (MASK) Basin.
- In addition to spurring WEC performance enhancements, the Wave Energy Prize aimed to provide an opportunity for apples-to-apples WEC testing and evaluation. However, levelized cost of energy (LCOE) metrics are challenging to equitably apply to new technologies, so the Prize team selected "Average Climate Capture Width per Characteristic Capital Expenditure", referred to as the ACE metric, as a proxy for LCOE. ACE is determined by dividing, in essence, the wave energy extraction efficiency of a WEC by its structural cost. Thus, the Prize specifically sought to double the 2014 state-of-the-art performance of innovative, deepwater WECs, from 1.5m/$M to 3.0m/$M.
- For additional details, view the Wave Energy Prize Rules.
- Methods
- Beginning in April 2015, 92 teams registered for the Wave Energy Prize.
- In Prize Phase 1: Design, 66 of those registered teams submitted a Technical Submission describing their WEC concepts. Using the Technology Performance Level (TPL) assessment methodology, the Technical Expert Judging Panel then evaluated the WEC concepts and selected 20 semi-finalists to proceed to Prize Phase 2.
- In Prize Phase 2: Build, each semi-finalist team designed, built, and instrumented a 1/50th scale model of their WEC concept; conducted small scale testing at participating test facilities; delivered full scale numerical modeling results; and submitted a 1/20th Scale Model Design and Construction Plan. The Technical Expert Judging Panel assessed the plans, compared simulated predictions to the 1/50th test results to validate performance, evaluated the likelihood of the proposed WEC concepts satisfying the required threshold value for ACE during the 1/20th scale testing, and ultimately identified nine finalists (see below).
- In Prize Phase 3: Test and Evaluate, each finalist team received up to $125,000 in seed funding to build a 1/20th scale prototype of their WEC concept. With the support of the U.S. Navy, the finalist teams then tested their prototype devices at the Naval Surface Warfare Center's MASK Basin in Carderock, Maryland.
- AquaHarmonics (Portland, OR)
- CalWave Power Technologies (Berkeley, CA)
- Waveswing America (Sacramento, CA)
- Oscilla Power (Seattle, WA)
- RTI Wave Power (York, ME)
- Sea Potential (Bristol, RI)
- Harvest Wave Energy (Research Triangle Park, NC)
- M3 Wave (Salem, OR)
- SEWEC (Redwood City, CA)
- In November 2016, DOE announced AquaHarmonics as the winner of the Wave Energy Prize, which came with a $1.5 million grand prize. CalWave Power Technologies and Waveswing America were awarded second and third place, respectively, with $500,000 and $250,000 in cash prizes.
- Findings
- The Wave Energy Prize proved to be a significant advancement for wave energy technology. Four teams surpassed that competition's goal of doubling state-of-the-art performance. AquaHarmonics' five-fold technology improvement showed how rapid innovation can be achieved in a public prize challenge. The competition achieved game-changing performance enhancements to WEC devices and established pathways to sweeping cost reductions on a commercial scale.
- Additional Resources
- Wave Energy Prize Videos
- 2016 Wave Energy Prize Winner Announced
- DOE Wave Energy Prize Testing Underway
- Wave Energy Prize “In Their Own Words” - Advice for Opposing Teams
- Wave Energy Prize “In Their Own Words” - Device Evolution
- Wave Energy Prize “In Their Own Words” - Innovation
- Wave Energy Prize “In Their Own Words” - European Experts
- Wave Energy Prize “In Their Own Words” - Vital Resource
- Wave Energy Prize Blog
- Current DOE Funding Opportunities
- View datasets related to the Wave Energy Prize on MHKDR here.
Project Information
| Status: | Completed |
|---|---|
| Start Date: | 2015/04/01 |
| End Date: | 2016/11/01 |
| Source: | [1] |
| Organization: | US Department of Energy (DOE) |
| Contact: | Frederick Driscoll |
This table lists documents associated with the Wave Energy Prize project, including reports written by the project team and/or papers that have used the project outputs or are closely associated with them.
