Wave Energy Scotland (WES), a new research and development body funded by the Scottish Government, is open for businesswith the launch of its first international technology innovation competition.
Part of Highlands and Islands Enterprise, WES is issuing a competitive project call for innovative power take-off (PTO) systems. Applications are invited from innovative technology developers who require investment to advance their technology through rigorous testing and, in time, towards commercialisation.
Successful applicants will be eligible for contracts that cover up to 100 percent of the cost of their technology development project, and contracts will range from between £100,000 and £4 million, depending on the maturity of the technology.
The PTO system competitive call is the first of five calls to be run over the next year, with support from the Carbon Trust, the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult and the University of Edinburgh. Wave Energy Scotland’s objective is to put wave energy technology developed in Scotland on the path towards a reliable, commercial product that generates electricity at no more than £150/MWh.
“This is an important day for Wave Energy Scotland,” said Energy Minister Fergus Ewing. “This project call is the first opportunity for innovative technology developers to get involved in Wave Energy Scotland and drive the direction of the wave energy sector. We recognise the wide range of expertise that exists beyond the energy sector. Wave Energy Scotland is a great platform for a collaborative effort between various industries and gives us the chance to support developers in Scotland to produce solutions for the cost effective generation of wave energy around the world.”
Tim Hurst, interim director, Wave Energy Scotland, agreed, adding: “Wave Energy Scotland will take a fresh approach to resolving the issues which so often hamper the early stages of developing innovative technology. It is an exciting time for the wave energy sector in Scotland, and WES offers a great opportunity to draw on the expertise which exists in industry and academia across the country.”
WES is calling for innovative ideas from Scotland’s marine energy sector and beyond to provide a step change in the capital cost and performance over current technologies. Technology transfer from the automotive, offshore wind, aerospace, defence, maritime and oil & gas sectors could help support early step changes in the levelised-cost-of-energy (LCOE) for the wave sector via lower capital costs, and improved efficiency or reliability at the subsystem or device level.
Innovators will need to demonstrate they meet specific ‘gate entry’ criteria in order to be assessed and the competition is open to any organisation with registered operations in the Europe Union.
Applications will be assessed according to their technical and commercial merit, impact on cost reduction and performance. Any intellectual property generated through a project supported by WES will lie with the applicant.