Singapore-based company Hann-Ocean Energy has launched its third-generation Drakoo wave energy device for a new round of sea trials at Shengsi archipelago in China.
The launch, which took more than four hours, officially marked the start of the second round of six-month sea trial.
The Drakoo wave energy generato r was independently researched and developed by Hann-Ocean Energy and was fully upgraded after its first round of sea trial, according to the company.
The 20-ton Drakoo wave energy device is capable of capturing the energy contained in wave oscillations and sways and is expected to generate up to 70,000kWh of power annually.
The first-round sea trial of Drakoo started in January 2022, and was completed in July the same year.
Since, Hann-Ocean’s R&D team made 21 technical modifications to the equipment to address the challenges identified in the first round of sea trial that needed to be solved in the real sea, Hann-Ocean said.
These include the installation of a five-layer filtration system in response to the problem with sediment in seawater, which caused the severe wear of bearings and mechanical equipment; the application of bionic flexible environmental protection paint to fight against antifouling; and the addition of ceramic bearings to fight against the corrosion of the equipment.
Drakoo is able to transform random sea waves into a unidirectional stream of water, through the use of multiple passive one-way valves, such that the hydro turbine continuously turns and creates power, the company claims.
The second round of sea trials of Drakoo device is expected to provide data to support future large-scale commercial applications and further improve the performance of the product.