C·Power Scores $3M for New Wave Energy Project

Columbia Power Technologies (C·Power) has been selected for award negotiations to develop a new, remote, low-power wave energy converter for non-grid applications.

This $3-million project, funded by the US Department of Energy, seeks to design, deliver, and test a prototype low-power WEC that lowers the total cost of ownership and provides robust, new capabilities for customers in the maritime environment.

The project prototype, the dataRAY, will be designed with the ability to be rapidly deployed and at a cost point to allow for multiple units to be positioned throughout an area to support required operations.

This new, early-stage WEC system is intended to be a mobile and quickly deployable power system for maritime sensors, monitoring equipment, communications, and other similar payloads and is expected to be a predecessor system for larger-scale, more-powerful WECs for a variety of applications, including AUV recharging. These applications are in both shallow- and deep-water locations that lack desirable, resident and/or sufficient power sources, C·Power explains.

At the highest level, the final system design will demonstrate high techno-economic potential for the marketplace, appropriately balancing survivability, cost, and ease of handling/servicing with a clear path for future open-water testing at larger scale and in deeper water.