Crestwing gearing up for wave device launch

Danish wave energy developer Crestwing has informed it is getting ready to launch its first ‘close to full-scale’ wave device prototype in October this year.

The company informed through social media that the production of its prototype device, named Tordenskiold, is going well ahead of its final demonstration in real sea conditions.

However, as Crestwing stopped receiving funding from the Danish national power distributor Energinet, which lasted for nine years, the company decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo’s platform to support the demonstration of the Tordenskiold device.

Namely, Crestwing has set the flexible goal of raising €45,000 in the campaign, launched today, August 21, 2017, and scheduled to last for one month.

The final demonstration has a twofold purpose, the company noted on the Indiegogo platform. The first is to show that the anchorage and mechanical parts of the device can survive the rough seas, and the second to demonstrate the efficiency of its energy conversion technology.

The company noted the Tordenskiold device will not be feeding power to the grid during the first phase of the trials, due to high costs of connecting the device to electricity network.

Instead, the power production will be measured, and the produced electricity will be dumped, Crestwing said on Indiegogo platform.

Crestwing’s wave technology fall under the attenuator type of floating wave energy devices which operate parallel to the wave direction. These devices capture energy from the relative motion of the two arms as the wave passes them.