This article's tone or style may not reflect the
encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (November 2016) |
Wave Energy Scotland (WES) is a technology development body[ clarification needed] set up by the Scottish Government to facilitate the development of wave energy in Scotland. It was set up in 2015 and is a subsidiary of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) based in Inverness.
WES has managed numerous projects resulting from pre-commercial procurement funding calls in six main topic areas. Each of these uses a stage-gate process, with fewer successful projects passing to later stages. WES has also commissioned eight landscaping studies in two phases. [1]
The Scottish Government took positive action to support the ailing wave energy sector in Scotland, following the demise of one of the leading developers Pelamis Wave Power. The Energy Minister Fergus Ewing announced an initial budget for the body of £14.3 million over 13 months at the RenewableUK conference in February 2015. [2]
The original objectives for WES were set out by the Scottish Government as: [3]
The WES development programme uses a series of stage-gates to evaluate technology progress.
Through collaboration with the International Energy Agency's Ocean Energy Systems programme, Wave Energy Scotland has helped to develop "An International Evaluation and Guidance Framework for Ocean Energy Technology", first published in 2021. [4] This sets out a clear evaluation methodology for the technical development and cost-effectiveness of wave and tidal energy technologies. A second edition was published in October 2023, adding the important aspect of environmental acceptability which had been missing from the first draft. [5]
The framework consists of six sequential stages of development, which is equivalent to those used in the IEC guidelines for testing early stage WECs, [6] and can be linked to the widely-used Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale.
Name | TRL | |
---|---|---|
Stage 0 | Concept creation | 1 |
Stage 1 | Concept development | 2–3 |
Stage 2 | Design optimisation | 4 |
Stage 3 | Scaled demonstration | 5–6 |
Stage 4 | Commercial-scale single device demonstration | 7–8 |
Stage 5 | Commercial-scale array demonstration | 9 |
The WES development programme uses a staged approach with projects progressing from concept (stage 1), through design (stage 2), to demonstration (stage 3). As of April 2024 [update], WES has held funding calls to start five development programmes, listed below. [7] The successful projects in each stage are tabulated in List of projects funded by Wave Energy Scotland.
Call Title | Launch Date | Call Closed | Budget | Notice |
---|---|---|---|---|
Secondary energy conversion technologies (power take-off systems, PTO) | 19 March 2015 | 22 May 2015 | £7m | MAR203890 |
Novel wave energy converters (NWEC) | 10 June 2015 | 13 August 2015 | up to £2.4m | JUN211095 |
Structural materials and manufacturing processes (SMMP) | 15 July 2016 | 8 September 2016 | up to £3m | JUL250786 |
Control systems (CS) | 5 April 2017 | 12 June 2017 | £660k | APR279121 |
Quick Connection Systems (QCS) | 25 July 2019 | 16 September 2019 | £490k | JUL361298 |
In 2023, a sixth area of Next Generation Wave Energy was introduced.
In March 2015, WES announced the fist call of their development programme, for innovative power take-off systems. Depending on the status of the technology, projects of £100k to £4m were sought, with successful applicants eligible to claim 100% of the cost of development. [8] A total of 42 applications were made for this £7m call, with contracts awarded to nine consortia. [9] [10]
In June 2015, the second call was announced, this time for "truly novel" wave energy converters. [15] Eight projects were funded for the first stage of the NWEC call, out of 37 applications. [16]
A third call for Structural Materials and Manufacturing Processes was launched in July 2016, looking for materials for the WEC structure or prime mover that would facilitate a step change reduction in LCOE. [20]
In April 2017, a call on feasibility studies for Control System was announced, particularly welcoming experience from other related sectors. This was for initial projects of up to £47k lasting three months. [24]
A call was launched in July 2019 for systems that facilitate rapid connection and disconnection of a WEC from the moorings/electrical system, which was expected to speed up installation and operations, both leading to reduced costs. [28]
In July 2023, a call was launched for concept designs that would directly convert motion into electricity, harnessing novel flexible electrostatic polymers and elastomers. [32] Five projects were awarded up to £50k for 12-14 week concept designs investigating dielectric elastomer generators, and dielectric fluid generators. [33]
WES has acquired intellectual property developed by the now defunct Scottish wave energy companies Pelamis Wave Power and Aquamarine Power. The former as part of the inception of Wave Energy Scotland, whilst the latter was completed in September 2016. [34]
With the exception of 2020 and 2021, WES has held an annual conference since 2016 to showcase progress in the sector. [35]
The first Wave Energy Scotland annual conference was held on 2 December 2016 at Pollock Halls in Edinburgh. [36] This provided an update of ongoing and future calls, plus quick-fire updates from participants ongoing PTO and NWEC calls.
A second annual conference was held on 28 November 2017. [37]
The third annual conference was held on 6 December 2018 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. [38]
This article's tone or style may not reflect the
encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (November 2016) |
Wave Energy Scotland (WES) is a technology development body[ clarification needed] set up by the Scottish Government to facilitate the development of wave energy in Scotland. It was set up in 2015 and is a subsidiary of Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) based in Inverness.
WES has managed numerous projects resulting from pre-commercial procurement funding calls in six main topic areas. Each of these uses a stage-gate process, with fewer successful projects passing to later stages. WES has also commissioned eight landscaping studies in two phases. [1]
The Scottish Government took positive action to support the ailing wave energy sector in Scotland, following the demise of one of the leading developers Pelamis Wave Power. The Energy Minister Fergus Ewing announced an initial budget for the body of £14.3 million over 13 months at the RenewableUK conference in February 2015. [2]
The original objectives for WES were set out by the Scottish Government as: [3]
The WES development programme uses a series of stage-gates to evaluate technology progress.
Through collaboration with the International Energy Agency's Ocean Energy Systems programme, Wave Energy Scotland has helped to develop "An International Evaluation and Guidance Framework for Ocean Energy Technology", first published in 2021. [4] This sets out a clear evaluation methodology for the technical development and cost-effectiveness of wave and tidal energy technologies. A second edition was published in October 2023, adding the important aspect of environmental acceptability which had been missing from the first draft. [5]
The framework consists of six sequential stages of development, which is equivalent to those used in the IEC guidelines for testing early stage WECs, [6] and can be linked to the widely-used Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale.
Name | TRL | |
---|---|---|
Stage 0 | Concept creation | 1 |
Stage 1 | Concept development | 2–3 |
Stage 2 | Design optimisation | 4 |
Stage 3 | Scaled demonstration | 5–6 |
Stage 4 | Commercial-scale single device demonstration | 7–8 |
Stage 5 | Commercial-scale array demonstration | 9 |
The WES development programme uses a staged approach with projects progressing from concept (stage 1), through design (stage 2), to demonstration (stage 3). As of April 2024 [update], WES has held funding calls to start five development programmes, listed below. [7] The successful projects in each stage are tabulated in List of projects funded by Wave Energy Scotland.
Call Title | Launch Date | Call Closed | Budget | Notice |
---|---|---|---|---|
Secondary energy conversion technologies (power take-off systems, PTO) | 19 March 2015 | 22 May 2015 | £7m | MAR203890 |
Novel wave energy converters (NWEC) | 10 June 2015 | 13 August 2015 | up to £2.4m | JUN211095 |
Structural materials and manufacturing processes (SMMP) | 15 July 2016 | 8 September 2016 | up to £3m | JUL250786 |
Control systems (CS) | 5 April 2017 | 12 June 2017 | £660k | APR279121 |
Quick Connection Systems (QCS) | 25 July 2019 | 16 September 2019 | £490k | JUL361298 |
In 2023, a sixth area of Next Generation Wave Energy was introduced.
In March 2015, WES announced the fist call of their development programme, for innovative power take-off systems. Depending on the status of the technology, projects of £100k to £4m were sought, with successful applicants eligible to claim 100% of the cost of development. [8] A total of 42 applications were made for this £7m call, with contracts awarded to nine consortia. [9] [10]
In June 2015, the second call was announced, this time for "truly novel" wave energy converters. [15] Eight projects were funded for the first stage of the NWEC call, out of 37 applications. [16]
A third call for Structural Materials and Manufacturing Processes was launched in July 2016, looking for materials for the WEC structure or prime mover that would facilitate a step change reduction in LCOE. [20]
In April 2017, a call on feasibility studies for Control System was announced, particularly welcoming experience from other related sectors. This was for initial projects of up to £47k lasting three months. [24]
A call was launched in July 2019 for systems that facilitate rapid connection and disconnection of a WEC from the moorings/electrical system, which was expected to speed up installation and operations, both leading to reduced costs. [28]
In July 2023, a call was launched for concept designs that would directly convert motion into electricity, harnessing novel flexible electrostatic polymers and elastomers. [32] Five projects were awarded up to £50k for 12-14 week concept designs investigating dielectric elastomer generators, and dielectric fluid generators. [33]
WES has acquired intellectual property developed by the now defunct Scottish wave energy companies Pelamis Wave Power and Aquamarine Power. The former as part of the inception of Wave Energy Scotland, whilst the latter was completed in September 2016. [34]
With the exception of 2020 and 2021, WES has held an annual conference since 2016 to showcase progress in the sector. [35]
The first Wave Energy Scotland annual conference was held on 2 December 2016 at Pollock Halls in Edinburgh. [36] This provided an update of ongoing and future calls, plus quick-fire updates from participants ongoing PTO and NWEC calls.
A second annual conference was held on 28 November 2017. [37]
The third annual conference was held on 6 December 2018 at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. [38]