The three-year Horizon 2020 funded WaveBoost project has drawn to a close with an improvement achieved to the reliability and performance of wave energy technology.

Led by CorPower, the WaveBoost consortium designed and developed an advanced power take off (PTO) system allowing wave energy converters (WECs) to operate safer and more reliably in harsh ocean conditions while increasing annual electricity production by 27 percent.

The system incorporates a pneumatic module that has 80% less components, thus reducing complexity and CAPEX while improving reliability, compared to previous designs.

A redistribution system manages the power input from ocean waves to support grid integration and increase energy production.

On the performance side, new dynamic seals were design and tested resulting in 70% improvement in friction, while flow losses have been reduced by up to 90% compared to previous product.

Matt Dickson WaveBoost project manager, and technical project manager at CorPower said: “The successful completion of the H2020 WaveBoost project marks a key milestone in our journey and unlocks our progress from Stage 3 into Stage 4 of our program as we scale our WEC technology to full scale.”