Swedish company CorPower Ocean has hired Bodycote, the world’s largest provider of heat treatments and specialist thermal processing services, to help optimise the key components of its C4 wave energy device.
The gateway deal opens Bodycote to the ocean energy sector using its Corr-I-Dur solution to simultaneously improve corrosion resistance and wear properties of CorPower’s next-generation C4 wave energy converters (WECs).
CorPower is currently ramping up operations for its flagship HiWave-5 demonstration project in northern Portugal, expected to propel its wave technology to a bankable product offering by 2024.
The €16 million project includes investment to build a world-class wave energy hub in the Port of Viana do Castelo, involving R&D, manufacturing and servicing facilities for the long-term development of supply and service capacity for commercial wave energy farms.
Thomas Lindahl , CorPower Ocean’s senior procurement and quality engineer, said: “After our initial collaboration we have now worked with Bodycote at a number of plant locations across Sweden to develop mechanical components for our WECs using Corr-I-Dur.
“This thermochemical treatment simultaneously improves corrosion resistance and wear properties by generating an iron nitride-oxide compound layer. Durability and robustness are of paramount importance in the wave energy sector, and effective protection of devices in the hostile ocean environment has always presented a major challenge to our industry.
“From a commercial perspective, solid proof of the long-term resilience of our WECs makes them infinitely more valuable. We believe this collaboration will play a crucial role protecting our WECs during our next phase of testing in the Atlantic Ocean, and for the years to come.”
Paul Clough , Bodycote’s president for Northern and Eastern Europe, said: “By using Corr-I-Dur, CorPower was able to design mechanical components such as pistons, guides and linkages, that are suitable for the world’s harshest environments for metal. Our customers value Corr-I-Dur for its ability to provide superior material properties such as wear and corrosion resistance, reducing maintenance costs and downtime for hard to access equipment. CorPower was looking to push the performance of their metal components through durability and corrosion resistance”.