We are happy to announce that the extensive tests at the Research Laboratory in Hydrodynamics, Energetics and Atmospheric Environment (LHEEA) in École Centrale de Nantes (ECN), France, have now been successfully concluded. The results show a very promising future for the NoviOcean wave energy converter (WEC) technology, proving our mathematical calculations and third-party wave2wire models.
According to the results, it has now been shown that the full-scale NoviOcean unit (rated at 500 kW) will reach its full output in 3.5-meter waves and higher, showing the immense potential ahead. Also, our new float design proved to be an improvement over the previously simplified version by which balanced front and back mooring loads could be achieved. It is worth noting that the ratio of lifting vs. horizontal loads is 20 to 1, which is unheard of in the wave energy industry. In the video, the unit is lifting 800 kg in every wave, which translates to approximately 600 tons in the full-scale unit.
This was the second time that we were granted access to perform such extensive tests in a highly equipped wave testing facility under the MaRINET2 programme, which we are very appreciative of (the first time was in 2020 in COAST Lab. Ocean Basin, Plymouth). We would also like to thank the highly professional and cooperative staff of ECN’s LHEEA during the time of our testing at their facilities.
The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Horizon 2020 Framework Programme (H2020) under grant agreement no 731084.
