Wave energy innovators get on Ocean Exchange finalists list

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Scaled CorPower Ocean’s WEC (Photo: KIC InnoEnergy)

 
Wave energy developers, CorPower Ocean from Sweden, and US-based Columbia Power Technologies, have been selected as finalists running for two $100,000 prizes as part of Ocean Exchange platform.

The sixth annual Ocean Exchange will feature fifteen worldwide solutions with the ability to generate economic growth and increase productivity while reducing the use of nature’s resources and the production of waste.

One of the companies selected to run for the cash prize is CorPower Ocean, with its wave energy converter (WEC) whose design was inspired by the pumping principles of the human heart.

Corpower’s WECs have power take-off (PTO) design that combines the high load capabilities from hydraulics with the efficiency of mechanical drive.

Its buoys oscillate in resonance with incoming waves absorbing the power of the waves.

The device uses WaveSpring phase control technology which amplifies waves’ motion, increasing the power capture, which is then converted to electricity, according to CorPower Ocean.

Another wave energy developer, Columbia Wave Power, is in the competition with its StingRay wave energy device which is a hybrid design featuring the characteristics of both point absorber- and attenuator-type devices.

The innovators will present their solutions at an event which will be held on November 9-11, 2016, and compete for one of two $100,000 awards from worldwide sponsors Gulfstream Aerospace Corp. and Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics.

Founded in 2010, the Ocean Exchange is the informational platform for accelerating the adoption across industries of solutions that positively impact the environment, economies, and health.