Columbia Power Technologies (C·Power) has been selected for award negotiations to develop a new, remote, low-power wave energy converter for non-grid applications.
This $3-million project, funded by the US Department of Energy, seeks to design, deliver, and test a prototype low-power WEC that lowers the total cost of ownership and provides robust, new capabilities for customers in the maritime environment.
The project prototype, the dataRAY , will be designed with the ability to be rapidly deployed and at a cost point to allow for multiple units to be positioned throughout an area to support required operations.
This new, early-stage WEC system is intended to be a mobile and quickly deployable power system for maritime sensors, monitoring equipment, communications, and other similar payloads and is expected to be a predecessor system for larger-scale, more-powerful WECs for a variety of applications, including AUV recharging. These applications are in both shallow- and deep-water locations that lack desirable, resident and/or sufficient power sources, C·Power explains.
At the highest level, the final system design will demonstrate high techno-economic potential for the marketplace, appropriately balancing survivability, cost, and ease of handling/servicing with a clear path for future open-water testing at larger scale and in deeper water.