AW-Energy has informed that the power take-off (PTO) unit of its WaveRoller wave energy device endured one year’s worth of stormy weather during accelerated lifetime testing at its PTO test facility.
The Finnish wave energy developer AW-Energy tested how well the device can stand up to the forces of nature by introducing force and stroke into the PTO unit with a wave machine built specifically for this purpose at its PTO test facility .
The force and stroke can be adjusted to follow the measured sea conditions in any given sea state and from any location at full-scale, according to AW-Energy.
Christopher Ridgewell , Chief Technology Officer at AW-Energy, said: “We’ve tested the PTO unit’s durability up to wave heights of 7-8 meters. We’ve learned an awful lot from this testing phase, and the test facility proved very useful.”
When waves go above the height of 2.5 meters the sea conditions are considered rough, according to AW-Energy.
AW-Energy performed the accelerated lifetime testing since its device is submerged for most of the time, excluding maintenance, so the tests had to cover an extended period of time.
The accelerated lifetime testing the process of testing a product by subjecting it to conditions in excess of its normal service parameters. The objective of the testing is to uncover hidden issues that are difficult to find during the design process.
AW-Energy’s 350kW WaveRoller device, equipped with parts supplied by Wärtsilä, will be installed later this year at Peniche, off the coast of Portugal.