EuropeWave pre-commercial procurement programme unveils 3 finalists
Three cutting-edge wave energy projects have been selected to fabricate, deploy and demonstrate their prototype designs in the third and final phase of the EuropeWave Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) programme. These projects will share a budget of €13.4 million to continue the development of their wave energy device concepts.
Following a thorough evaluation of the designs developed by the five projects in the second phase of the programme, which concluded at the end of June 2023, the three successful projects progressing to phase 3 are (subject to contract):
· CETO Wave Energy Ireland Limited – ACHIEVE
· IDOM Consulting, Engineering, Architecture S.A.U. – MARMOK Atlantic
· Mocean Energy Limited – Blue Horizon 250
In this final phase, the projects will complete their designs, before fabricating a prototype which will be deployed for a one-year demonstration and operational test programme. Testing will take place at the open-water facilities of Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) in the Basque Country and European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Scotland.
EuropeWave combines a classic PCP programme with the ‘stage-gate’ process developed by the International Energy Agency – Ocean Energy Systems (IEA-OES). This innovative dual approach will deliver best value for public procurement bodies, and help to accelerate wave energy technology development.
Tim Hurst, Managing Director of Wave Energy Scotland (WES), commented: “The success of the EuropeWave project demonstrates the power of a structured, competitive, and collaborative programme to drive innovation in wave energy. It de-risks technology quickly and builds the confidence that will be required by investors as we move to commercialisation.”
Endika Aldaiturriaga, Project Manager at Ente Vasco de la Energia (EVE), added:
“I am very proud to say that the five technology development teams in Phase 2 of the EuropeWave project have shown an outstanding performance and significantly progressed their innovations. With the announcement of the top three technologies moving forward, we have now hit a critical programme milestone, where they will now proceed to the manufacturing and open-sea deployment of their systems at BiMEP and EMEC.”
Rémi Gruet, CEO of Ocean Energy Europe, commented: “Identifying the most promising solutions from a sea of emerging technologies is essential to kick-start this new industry and deploy more renewables at scale. The EuropeWave approach delivers faster, high-value technology development for public funders, and enable wave energy developers to reach the commercial stage more quickly. Now is the time to build on EuropeWave’s success and to plan in earnest for a follow-up programme.”