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The global wave energy industry is finally getting some serious traction in the power generation field, and it is already branching off in different directions. In addition to producing electricity, wave energy innovators are working on systems that deploy the infinite power of waves to produce potable water from the ocean, driving fossil energy out of the desalination business.
Wave Energy Can Push Fossil Fuels Out Of The Desalination Business
Desalination plants require large amounts of energy to push seawater over a membrane at high pressure in a process called reverse osmosis.
A series of energy efficiency improvements over the years can reduce fuel consumption at individual desalination plants, but the rising demand for desalinated seawater will continue to offset efficiency gains as long as fossil fuels are still in play.
Wind and solar energy have been emerging to decarbonize land-based desalination plants. However, the plants can contribute to coastal degradation when they discharge brine in near-shore waters, a problem that is not solvable with renewable energy.
Wave energy provides another zero-emission alternative, with the added benefit that wave energy harvesters can be co-located with floating desalination plants far from shore, where brine discharges can be diffused more effectively.
The Ocean Oasis Solution
The Norwegian startup Ocean Oasis is among the wave energy innovators exploring the offshore desalination angle. I had a chance to learn more about the company’s business plan at a press briefing while reporting for CleanTechnica from Oslo this week.*
Ocean Oasis deploys a large, boxy-shaped, buoy-type design. Buoys are a longtime feature of offshore infrastructure, floating on the surface of the water and bobbing up and down with the motion of the waves. That kinetic energy can be captured by an interior device underneath the surface that swings along with the buoy as well.
Offshore wind turbines and floating offshore solar arrays could be deployed to power offshore desalination plants, but wave energy has the advantage of direct application to reverse osmosis, without inserting an electricity generation step in between.
At the briefing, Christian Dubrau, the Head of Finance for Ocean Oasis, also pointed out that the buoy approach has a much smaller footprint than a solar array. Because the system has a low profile, it also does not raise the aesthetic issues confronted by offshore wind developers. Concerns over risks to avian traffic are also mitigated by the low silhouette.
Many Hands Bring Wave Energy Desalination Systems To Life
The wave energy field was lingering in the shadows at the turn of the 20th century, but in recent years, innovators have been able to take advantage of a growing knowledge base, improvements in supply chain support, and increased funding from public agencies and other partners.
With those springboards under their feet, Ocean Oasis has executed a relatively short trajectory from startup to steel-in-the-water. Dubrau explained that the R&D phase began in 2008 but the company did not launch until 2020, just five years ago.
Two years after launch, in 2022, Ocean Oasis had a pilot buoy named “Gaia” up and running in the Canary Islands, supported by the European Innovation Council Accelerator and Innovation Norway among other funders. The buoy is located in the north region of Gran Canaria off the Port of Las Palmas, where wave quality is suitable and freshwater for farming is a concern alongside potable water for people.
Other funders saw enough to be convinced. Two years later, in 2024, Ocean Oasis received almost €6 million from the European Executive Agency on Climate, Infrastructure and Environment to launch the “DESALIFE” consortium, aimed at launching a fleet of four buoys at Gran Canaria.
The DESALIFE Consortium consists of the Canary Islands Institute of Technology, The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands, The Group for the Research on Renewable Energy Systems of the Universidad of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, and the environmental consulting firm elittoral.
More Wave Energy Converters Are On The Way
The consortium is not waiting around for the wave energy grass to grow beneath their feet. The project will initially integrate with one of three existing desalination plants on the island, but the consortium aims to have all four buoys producing freshwater for a population of 15,000 by the middle of next year.
The four-buoy fleet is being launched on a pre-commercial basis, and that’s just for starters. The project will serve as a platform for investigating the application to other parts of the Canary Islands experiencing water scarcity.
“This first-of a-kind project will demonstrate our solution for the Canary Islands, and the potential to deliver fresh water to other coastal areas and island nations facing water scarcity,” emphasized Ocean Oasis CEO and Co-Founder Kristine Bangstad Fredriksen.
Meanwhile, activity is also stirring on the electricity generation side of the wave energy field. In the latest development, the Swedish firm CorPower Ocean has just nailed down an agreement to launch 15 of its wave converters at the site of the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, Scotland. With a collective capacity of 5 megawatts, the array is being billed as the first commercial wave energy farm in the UK.
The commercial project follows a series of test deployments, including a grid-connected device located in the notoriously rough waters off the coast of Portugal. The plan is to build the Portugal array into a four-converter demonstration project before commencing work on the EMEC array.
CorPower’s onion shaped, buoy-type wave energy device has been appearing regularly on the pages of CleanTechnica. The last time we checked in, the company was also gearing up for a deployment with the Dutch startup SwitcH2, with the aim of producing green ammonia at sea (see more CorPower background here).
Meanwhile, Back In The USA …
Just a few short months ago, the US was poised to lead the globe in wave energy R&D. Many millions of taxpayer dollars have gone into the effort, highlighted by the establishment of the new grid-connected PacWave South open ocean test site off the coast of Oregon.
PacWave South represents a significant step up in scope from other test facilities in the US, including one in Hawaii supported by the US Navy along with the US Department of Energy.
The Energy Department also makes its network of lab and tank testing facilities available to qualified wave energy developers from around the world through its TEAMER program. However, now that Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been appropriating whatever parts of the US government he can’t dismantle, wave energy faces an uncertain future in the US.
That’s too bad. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory has calculated that the coastal waters of the US hold enough wave energy potential to account for an entirely new and significant source of emission-free electricity to tap into … but … oh, well.
Image: The Norwegian wave energy startup Ocean Oasis has developed an emission free, wave-powered offshore desalination system to help relieve water scarcity among island and coastal communities (courtesy of Ocean oasis).
*This trip was made possible by the firm Arc Press.
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