NWEI’s Azura wave energy device has been connected to the Hawaiian electricity grid, and is delivering power to Marine Corps Base located on the island.
The collaboration between US Navy, Northwest Energy Innovations (NWEI) and the Energy Department brought online a prototype of the Azura wave energy converter device.
The Azura is now the first grid-connected wave energy device producing power in North America to be validated by a third party, the University of Hawaii, according to the US Department of Energy (US DoE).
NWEIS’ Azura is a multi-mode, point absorber wave energy converter that extracts power from both the heave (vertical) and surge (horizontal) motions of waves to maximize energy capture.
The system produces power as a result of the relative rotational motion between the hull and float.
NWEI completed sea trials with pilot scale projects in New Zealand and Oregon with the AzuraWave (former Wave Energy Technology New Zealand or WETNZ) prior to moving the project to Hawaii, according to Ocean Energy Systems’ Annual Report for 2014.
According to US DoE, further testing at the Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) will gather critical performance data to address technical risks and inform future designs to accelerate the commercialization and deployment of MHK technologies in the United States.
Northwest Energy Innovations is a Portland-based wave energy developer that has built Azura wave energy converter.
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Image: US DoE