Public Funding for Albatern Limited

For marine energy to compete with other energy systems, a step reduction in CAPEX/OPEX and increase in availability times (AVT) is required. Albatern WaveNet scalable wave energy convertors (WECs) at 7.5kW scale, in grid arrays, have achieved a several fold CAPEX reduction compared with alternative designs, and at 1GW grid scale aim to achieve a levelised elecricity cost of £150MWhr, competitive with offshore wind, by 2024. As an enabling technology for this target an online, in-service, risk driven; condition monitoring, predictive maintenance management and design upscaling tool (RISKMAN) will be developed for WECs FOR THE FIRST TIME, to achieve a step OPEX reduction, AVT enhancement and design life optimisation. RISKMAN will input monitored fatigue cycle (vibration spectra) into theoretical models of fatigue life, refined by historic reliability data, to derive probability distribution functions for the remaining life of generator components and hence optimised maintenance schedules. RISKMAN will be a generic system applicable to all types of WECs, for exploitation of all the huge wave resources in poor, off-grid and island communities in developing countries.

Demonstrator of a WaveNET coupled array wave energy device incorporated into an offshore aquaculture site to demonstrate provision of power from wave energy