US-based wave energy company Columbia Power Technologies (C-Power) has completed the testing of its LandRAY direct-drive generator as part of the StingRAY wave energy device development.
After over two years of try-outs at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) , the two-story tall generator has been the largest generator ever tested in the center’s dynamometer, used to validate power-take-off systems for wave and water power devices with the capacity ratings ranging from 1kW to 5MW.
The trials at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s (NREL) NWTC, co-sponsored by C-Power and the US Department of Energ y, were focused on validating the power take-off as part of StingRAY product validation and risk mitigation efforts.
The focus of this validation was the large-diameter, direct-drive permanent-magnet generator, with a built-in was C-Power’s novel air-gap control system design, NREL said earlier.
Designed to deliver electricity at a competitive cost while having a low environmental impact, StingRAY’s floats and generators convert the energy in ocean waves into electricity.
According to developers, the project represents an important risk-reduction step prior to deployment of a full-scale StingRAY wave power device at the US Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) in Hawaii.