SyncWave Energy Inc. (SEI) announces
SyncWave Power Resonator, a radically new approach to capturing the energy in
Ocean Waves with frequency-based technology. SyncWave is a free-floating,
self-reacting point-absorber system that is expected to dramatically improve
the economics of wave energy. The energy and climate change dilemma has
highlighted the costs and impacts of conventional non-renewable and renewable
energies. Ocean waves are a major renewable resource, eclipsing wind and hydro
in potential. SyncWave’s ultra-low impact, long-life, almost invisible, and
highly productive electricity generation technology cuts the cost of wave
energy down to levels affordable by consumers and industry today. SyncWave
power could sell for as little as $US 5cents/kWh.
Nigel Protter, President & CEO of SyncWave Energy Inc. describes recent
prototype tests as “an enormous breakthrough in proving our technology IP and
advancing the science of low cost wave energy conversion. Our prototype
device, nicknamed ‘Charlotte’, exceeded our expectations and helped to refine
our simulation models to a new level of sophistication. We’re now committed to
moving ahead with partners on a 3 year, $15 Million demonstration project off
the West Coast of British Columbia, Canada. The goal is to bring SEI’s
technology to commercial readiness with sales booked and supply chain in place
by 2009.”
SyncWave Power Resonator:
– Lowers the expected cost of wave energy to a level more than twice as
efficient as the current wave energy market leader
– Addresses multiple market segments with one core platform
– Is relatively simple to build, deploy, service & out-source, with a
long expected service life
The wave energy conversion technology sector is on the brink of global
commercialization. Yet competing Ocean Energy device developers are mostly
focused on utility power, facing a shakeout due to:
– Subsidy Risk (reliance on subsidies & feed-in tariffs)
– Permitting Risk (large projects = large questions and long
delays)
– Technology Risk (utilities are conservative buyers)
SEI aims to mitigate those risks by launching with smaller scale
technology in off-grid markets that pay higher prices for energy.
SyncWave Power Resonator is comprised of two floats and a controller
deployed in deep waters offshore. Under the regular stimulation of ocean swell
the floats naturally heave out of phase due to differences in their physical
properties. The SyncWave Energy Latching System (SWELS) controller optimizes
their relative motion in the full range of wave conditions, and limits
SyncWave to safe operating modes in extreme seas. The key difference from
competing technologies is the company’s view of the wave resource as a
propagating energy field – like a radio wave. SEI designed SWELS to force
SyncWave to resonate with the dominant frequency of the wave spectrum like an
antenna tunes to a radio signal. This delivers consistent energy to the power
take-off, which is converted to electricity and sent to shore by undersea
cable. SWELS tracks changes in sea state and wave frequency over time, and
constantly applies corrections to keep the system maximally productive.
