Neil Davidson, Public Affairs Manager, Aquamarine Power
Transcript of Neil Davidson, Public Affairs Manager, Aquamarine Power
Wave energy – the challenge, the opportunity Neil Davidson, Public Affairs Manager, Aquamarine Power
Aquamarine Power is a technology company that has developed a product called Oyster which produces electricity from ocean wave energy. .
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Global market potential
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• Exploitable wave resource o Estimated at 80,000TWh/year (world
electricity consumption x5)
• Size of the Oyster market o 600GW raw resource o 64GW – global commercial Oyster
resource o 14GW – European commercial
Oyster resource o £192 billion – global Oyster market
Economic and social potential
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Jobs – 26,000 direct EU jobs from ocean energy in 2020 – 314,000 direct EU jobs from ocean energy in 2050 – new opportunities in European coastal communities
Renewable energy targets – 5% of EU energy demand in 2050 – avoid 136 MT/MWh of CO2 emissions in 2050. – diversify and enhance the security of renewable
electricity portfolios – maximise value from offshore wind infrastructure, grid
and supply chain
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Reducing the cost of power
• Industry goal – to be cost-competitive with offshore wind
• Decrease costs over time – through engineering excellence, wave tank and computer modelling
• Economies of scale - need to deploy and test at scale
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How to get there – three key elements
Time
Learning
EOS LBD
R&D
• R&D
• Learning by doing
• Economies of scale
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Oyster 800 design improvements
• More powerful • Simpler to install • Easy to maintain • More efficient • More economic
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Oyster 801 cost reduction – drilling/piling
Oyster 1: four piles £1,034,880 Oyster 800: two piles £700,000 Oyster 801 / 802: mono pile £400,000 Cost per device = £200,000
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Multiple challenges remain
Large R&D component including: • Systems engineering • Flap design • Cylinder modules • Control and instrumentation • Hydraulics • Support structures
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Learning from the wind industry
Spheroidal Graphite Iron (SGI) • Used extensively in the wind turbine
industry • Better fatigue properties • Dimensionally stable – good quality
castings
• Performance in sea water unknown
ETP studentship – force feedback dynamometer
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Currently the damping torque that can be applied to models in the wave tank cannot be changed dynamically during tests
Neil Davidson Public Affairs Manager Tel: +44 (0) 131 524 1449 Mob: +44 (0) 7545 735402 Email: [email protected] Aquamarine Power Elder House, 24 Elder Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3DX Tel: +44 (0) 131 524 1440 Fax: +44 (0) 131 524 1444 Web: www.aquamarinepower.com
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