AW-Energy Oy in Finland – a leader in near-shore wave energy – has today received its certification by Lloyd’s Register (LR) for its WaveRoller® device. It has been awarded following previous certifications by LR through the Technology Qualification
The certificate was presented in person by LR’s Senior Vice President of Innovation and Renewables, Tristan Chapman and Andoni Calogiros, LR's Project Manager, to Sami Tuhkanen, Chairperson of AW-Energy on 16 January 2020.
“We are delighted with the certification of our WaveRoller® technology,” says Tuhkanen. “It reflects the journey we have taken from just a few years ago when LR awarded us our Technology Qualification Certificate for our WaveRoller Design, the first of it’s kind for LR. The level of involvement with LR on our technology for the renewables industry has been very thorough and a valuable process to validate our key goals in safety, reliability and availability for the unit. We are delighted with today’s news which will open the door for wide scale commercial deployment in the UK, across Europe and beyond.”
Working to rigorous technical standards in collaboration with LR, AW-Energy is committed to follow best practice from corresponding industries. It has helped to secure the first-of-a-kind grid connection with the WaveRoller® device now deployed off the coast of Peniche in Portugal.
Chapman says: “The technology that AW-Energy has developed pushes the boundaries with exciting results. Deriving energy from the ocean provides a sustainable way to develop grid-compatible power in many locations around the world . An important step in scaling the solution is to manage the risks and evidence that technology will achieve its objectives and perform how it’s meant to. We’re very pleased Lloyd’s Register could deliver this confidence to AW-Energy through our goal-based Technology Qualification process.”
WaveRoller® is a near-shore wave energy converter, mounted to the seabed with a panel that oscillates with the wave surge. It paves the way to commercialisation for the wave energy industry and with ongoing projects in Europe and Asia, AW-Energy expects to see rapid growth for its product as governments, operators and energy policy strive for cleaner and more sustainable power generation solutions ahead of this year’s global COP26 in Glasgow, UK.
Christopher Ridgewell, CEO, AW-Energy, highlights: “Cooperation with strong industrial partners such as LR ensures excellence in critical areas, namely device integrity and high availability. Our latest device combines technology advances in software, power output control, hydraulics, and optimised processing of weather models making it a highly attractive commercial proposition for operators.”
Wave energy is a significant untapped resource of clean renewable energy globally and has a potential greater than the capacity of all the installed fossil fuel plants in Europe combined.
As the world begins to look at broadening the energy mix with sustainable forms of renewable energy offering cleaner and lower emitting energy solutions, wave energy offers a highly predictable source of energy and can make a valuable contribution to the mix of wind and solar power generation. The Finnish company is leading this new era of energy innovation to ensure power generation from wave energy is bankable with its certified WaveRoller® technology.
Once the device is deployed offshore it has minimal visual impact and has been proven to help create artificial bases for reef ecosystems to flourish.
