Bermuda Expands Legal Framework to Incorporate Wave Energy

The Government of Bermuda has approved regulations for innovative licenses to provide electricity to the island, further clearing a regulatory path for Seabased’s planned wave energy park. Bermuda, and Minister of Home Affairs, the Hon. Walter H. Roban, have provided an example to countries and communities everywhere for creating a legal and regulatory process to incorporate wave power into their renewable energy mix.

Minister Roban, was quoted as saying “This important milestone in Bermuda’s efforts towards sustainable energy development will encourage innovation among energy creators while ensuring grid stability and ultimately benefitting our island and our people.”

Seabased CEO Laurent Albert noted that the focus of innovation in renewable energy often centers on the technology. “But,” he said, “the regulatory piece is just as important, and requires the support of an entire community. Bermuda and Minister Roban have done an excellent job of creating a template that many other communities can use to expand their renewable base.”

Small Islands May Introduce the World to Ocean Energy

Small islands are experiencing Climate Change in real time. While rising seas and temperatures threaten only parts of many larger countries, they threaten the whole of a small island—its population, its economy, in some cases even its very existence. For many small islands—including many Small Island Developing States (SIDS)—ocean energy may be their best option for switching to renewable energy. A lot of small islands don’t have enough landmass to support large wind or solar installations, but they are surrounded by ocean that can provide blue power all day, all year round.

 At COP26, many wealthier nations pledged to help less wealthy nations with their energy transition. An alliance was forged between International Renewable Energy Association and the Alliance of Small Island States to accelerate that transition. The traditional approaches of deploying mature technologies such as solar and wind, however, won’t work the same on many small islands as they do in places with more landmass. Besides the scarcity of land, many islands are protective of tourists’ ocean views—which have great economic value—and could be marred by offshore installations. These are challenges that some wave and tidal technologies can overcome.

Technologies that are mostly below the surface don’t mar ocean views and may require very little land. For example, Seabased, which provides blue power from wave energy, requires only enough land for the size of a small hut. Plus ocean power is formidable. Waves are 800 times denser than wind, so they pack hundreds of times the power. And waves work 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so they’re easy to integrate on the grid.

Small islands may play a key role in the green transition

For some places, wading into the less tested waters of ocean energy may seem risky; for small islands, though, it’s an approach that means safety. One thing all islands have in abundance is ocean. Many of these islands have excellent wave energy resources and many also have tidal and ocean thermal resources. SIDS including Barbados, St. Lucia, Tonga, Trinidad, and Capo Verde, for example, have the kind of wave climate that could make wave energy a substantial contributor to the baseload. Though other factors must be explored to know whether they are good candidates for wave energy, if it turns out that wave energy is an option these islands would be turning to a resource that will never be depleted and is, in many places, highly stable. That means safety for their lives and economies for decades to come.

The SIDS are recognizing that their future is in their hands. The island of Barbados, for example, has recently invested $60 million in renewable energy projects and has committed another $90 million for the next several years.

Bermuda, another small island, may go down in history as a leader who brought the third vertical in renewables—ocean energy—to the rest of the world. Bermuda just announced that it is moving forward on what is likely to be the world’s first wave energy park. Bermuda’s Minister of Home Affairs Hon. Walter Roban, MP, JP said “We have the opportunity to show that we are serious about this transition…. We are making a sincere effort, as a small island jurisdiction, to adapt.”

Every island Has a HOME-hybrid optimal mix of energy

Renewable energy isn’t one size fits all, and it doesn’t need to be. Every place in the world has a unique mix of natural resources—sun, wind, wave, tide, ocean thermal power—that could provide various amounts of clean energy. We call this HOME, Hybrid Optimal Mix of Energy. All available sources can be used together, just as nature does. The point is to have the technologies in place to convert that power of nature into electricity for people, without further harming the Earth. Wind and solar energy have transformed the world’s idea of power, but after decades of development, they only bring about 10% of the power on the world’s grids. They can produce a lot of power when they are producing, but they also stop, leaving grids scrambling for expensive batteries or fossil fuels.

The ocean, however, covers 70% of the surface of the earth and waves never stop. Together with wind and sun, they can produce a substantial baseload.

None of the small islands or SIDS can, alone, change the trajectory of Climate Change. They alone can’t stop the seas from rising or prevent the catastrophic weather changes wrought by changing global temperatures. By embracing ocean energy, however, they can help the rest of the world see how potent, reliable, and essential electricity from the power of the seas is. Hopefully, that will make it clear it’s time to back ocean energy around the world.

Bermuda and Seabased Sign Agreement for Site of 40MW Wave Energy Power Park

Fresh on the heels of COP26, Bermuda is leading in the energy transition by inaugurating the third vertical of renewable energy: blue ocean power. On 22 November in Hamilton, Bermuda, Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs Hon. Walter Roban JP, MP, announced an agreement to move forward on the development of what promises to be the world’s first utility-scale commercial ocean wave power park. With a 40MW capacity, the park will fuel the island’s grid, providing roughly 10% of Bermuda's energy needs.

“We appreciate the support of Seabased and the vision of Mr. (Wendall) Brown and the team to see Bermuda as an opportunity for this wonderful technology,” Minister Roban said at the press conference. “We are the first jurisdiction in this region--North America, South America, and the Caribbean—to have the opportunity to deploy this technology. This is significant in that out of the COP26 events and the obvious commitment globally to begin to move away from fossil fuels, we have the opportunity to show that we are serious about this transition…. We are making a sincere effort, as a small island jurisdiction, to adapt.”

Minister Roban introduced Mr. Wendall Brown, a principle in the project as well as CEO of Bermuda General Agency and owner of several successful businesses in Bermuda.

“Mr. Brown brought Seabased to Bermuda,” Minister Roban said. “His patience, focus, perseverance, and willingness to go through the process was instrumental in getting us here today.”

Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs Hon. Walter Roban, JP, MP (left) and Seabased CEO Laurent Albert (inset)

Meeting environmental goals

The Minister said the government of Bermuda is committed to attracting innovative solutions to the island and dedicated to an environmentally friendly sustainable future for its citizens and the planet. On an island beleaguered by the high cost of imported fossil fuels, Seabased wave power parks offer a renewable solution that reduces the cost of electricity and provides energy security. As part of the project, Seabased has been working with stakeholders in Bermuda and is finalizing an Environmental Impact Report.

“The Department of Environment and Natural Resources or DENR led this initiative,” Minister Roban said. “It held multiple consultations with stakeholders, including the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Public Works, the Marine Resources Board, and the Commercial Fisheries Council.” DENR, he said, worked to ensure that the location would not only provide the needed amount of renewable wave energy, but also produce minimal disruption to shipping lanes, while meeting several key sustainability and environmental goals. Among these: striking a balanced approach with the fishing industry; having no impact on whales in the area; not harming any protected species, including coral and seagrass; and avoiding any impact on the marine heritage.

Previous studies have shown that a possible increase of biodiversity and desirable fish species can be achieved over time as a result of the park’s presence in the leased area, a few kilometers offshore from Bermuda’s airport on St. George’s Island.

“We have come to know, respect, and appreciate the Bermudan government and the representatives we work with in Bermuda,” said Seabased CEO Laurent Albert. “They have demonstrated their bold commitment, both to fighting climate change and to providing energy security from an abundant local renewable resource—the ocean. We are delighted to be working with Bermuda and with Mr. Brown, who has agreed to be our distributor in the Caribbean.”

An innovative solution for an innovative island

Seabased is a blue power company which harnesses ocean waves for abundant renewable consistent power at utility scale. A global market leader, its proprietary technology is protected by over 300 patents and was invented by professors Mats Leijon and Hans Bernhoff, internationally recognized electrical engineers who developed the technology initially at Uppsala University in Sweden.  

“I am confident that this pilot will prove to be a success,” Minister Roban said. “Seabased has extensively tested and refined its technology, including two successful full-scale demonstration wave power parks.”

Mr. Albert believes Seabased wave power parks can contribute greatly to enabling the green energy transition. “This will be the next, bold step in Bermuda’s renewable energy transition as well as Seabased’s industrial rollout. At the same time, it will address the urgent needs for a sustainable and clean energy future.

Project principal Wendall Brown, Minister Walter Roban, Seabased CEO Laurent Albert

Watch the press conference here

Designing wave power parks to be gentle on the ocean

The world’s oceans are a source of nearly endless clean power. Adding that power to the grid through wave energy power parks could exponentially accelerate the Green Transition and combat Climate Change. Yet the oceans are much more than a power source; they are vast ecosystems teeming with life and their health is crucial to most everything on Earth. So, at least as far as Seabased is concerned, any extraction of that clean power by wave power parks must be gentle on the ocean environment. This is one of the pillars of our design philosophy: our wave energy parks have to deliver utility-scale, cost-competitive power that is gentle on the environment.

We’re in the process of conducting a full lifecycle CO2 and environmental analysis. Here are some of the design decisions we’ve been able to make toward fighting Climate Change with naturally CO2-free, methane-free renewable wave power while protecting the ocean environment:

No turbines or blades

Algae that has grown on a Seabased generator causes no harm to the equipment and can help the ecosystem.

Seabased produces power inside a steel generator on the ocean floor. The only moving parts that sea creatures are exposed to are large buoys on the surface and the cables that connect each buoy to its generator—the Wave Energy Converter (WEC). The buoys move with the waves, raising and lowering a heavy magnet inside the steel casing of the WEC; that produces the renewable energy. There are no turbines to pull creatures in, no blades, nothing to catch or harm sea life. The large yellow buoys are as easy to avoid as any anchored boat, and tend to serve as a resting place for sea birds. Research has also showed that mussels, algae, and barnacles attach to these buoys, doing no harm to the WEC, and in some cases providing more organic matter on the seabed—food for creatures that live there.

No oils or toxins

Seabased´s wave power parks are designed to emit no chemicals. We coat the buoys and generators using solvent-free marine paints that have passed rigorous environmental testing in Scandinavia. In the past, the materials for the park included half a liter of lubrication grease (for the entire park); we designed it out.

No disturbance of the sea floor

Rather than drill into the sea floor to anchor the WECs, Seabased uses gravity. The wave energy parks are usually placed on relatively flat, barren, sandy, muddy, gravelly, or shell and pebble rock bottoms where few creatures live. We lower the WECs down to this natural ocean floor and heavy concrete bases hold them in place. We lay sea cable from the generators to the electrical converter that weaves the power of many converters, operating on different waves, into a single stream of grid-ready electricity. Another cable goes from the converter to the grid connection point on land. These cables generally settle into the sediment.

Making a home for sea life

Crab has taken up residence in a Seabased foundation.

The wave energy parks become no-fishing zones. In some areas, this has resulted in the parks serving as artificial reefs where sea life can thrive. Research has shown that that population can spill outside the parks, so the fishing industry benefits as well. We can design the bases of the generators with holes that provide a hard-walled type of shelter many animals prefer. Normally, these creatures seek out rocks or coral areas for their habitats, but they adopt these holes in the bases as their habitat. This increases biodiversity, which is essential for environmental health.

Reducing mining for materials

Wherever possible, we use recycled steel and ferrite magnets which are easily accessible and don’t require the types of mining used in rare earth metal mining—often associated with human rights violations.

Simplifying installation and maintenance

Installation of a Seabased generator

Installing equipment in the ocean requires boats, and boats use fuel. Seabased’s WECs can travel to the location where they will be installed in containers on normal cargo ships. So they don’t require specialized boats or extra burning of fossil fuels. Because the WECs are relatively small, they can be installed in a few days, using mostly smaller boats. The smaller the boat, the shorter the time, the less fuel consumed. And Seabased’s maintenance is minimal—a yearly visual inspection and switching out the electrical converters every five years. A 2MW wave energy power park has 20 generators and one converter.

What we don’t know

Research suggests that any noise or electromagnetic waves emitted from our equipment is minimal and doesn’t interfere with the normal behavior or health of sea life. Our installations are relatively small compared to the sea cables crisscrossing the oceans to carry the internet and other things.

However, this is a nascent technology, and we plan to monitor and continually improve it in terms of not only performance and cost reduction but also reduction of our impact on the natural environment.

As much as possible, we want Seabased’s wave energy parks to disappear into the coastline (although not completely for the safety of local shipping traffic). We want the energy of the ocean, that works 24/7, to be captured in a way that works—as naturally as possible—with the ecosystem, not only of the ocean but of the communities where our parks are installed.

In the changes ahead, to combat Climate Change, we must constantly revisit how the choices we’re making as a species impact the delicate ecosystems that comprise the natural balance. That’s always been Seabased’s goal and always will.

Climate Change Requires we change overnight; COVID showed us we can

Anyone who says the world can’t transform overnight to fight Climate Change hasn’t been paying attention. For the last 18 months, during the COVID-19 lockdown, the world changed overnight, because it had to. Companies that had been ducking necessary investments because of cost and operational disruption—investments in things like Digital Transformation and providing remote work--suddenly found their objections obliterated by COVID. Workers learned that not only could they do their jobs at home, but now many employees around the world say they don’t want to go back to the office full time. It was a sea change, and nature was in charge. The comparison to the COP26 dialogue about the Green Transition is clear: today, the fossil industry’s narrative is that a fast shift to renewables is impossible (never mind that they’ve been saying that for 50 years). But as history has proven again and again, nothing converts the impossible to the possible as efficiently as having no other choice.

 Do As Nature Does: Diversify

The argument goes that wind and solar probably can’t get us to 100% CO2-free electrical power on their own. That’s true. The sun goes down; the wind stops; and battery technology can’t fill in all the gaps. However, wind and solar don’t have to do it on their own. The ocean is an abundant source of power, covering 70% of Earth’s surface. There are waves, tides, ocean thermal conversion power, all of which can be enlisted to effect the transition.

Humans often look for single, silver bullet solutions to complex problems: monoculture farming is an example. It’s designed to simplify agriculture and increase profits, but it’s hard on the soil and creates fragility—if a disease specific to that crop strikes, a food crisis can ensue. Nature, though, engenders resiliency through diversity, ecosystems, and networks. Interdependence and balance enabled Earth to recover from, and survive, global catastrophes. We can adopt this model, creating a harmonious blend of several natural resources to increase our resilience and get us past the roadblocks hindering the Green Transition.

Wave energy is stable and predictable. The amount of power that grid operators can expect to glean from a wave park can be predicted from 5-to-14 days ahead of the time it is needed. In many densely populated places, moderate waves can provide a baseload at a price lower than the community currently pays. In most of these places, wave power parks can be paired with sun and/or wind. This provides an even larger renewable energy baseload and, in balancing the contribution of each resource, increases the value of both technologies to grid operators and to the market.  

In other wave climates, a tidal energy facility, or ocean thermal energy conversion might serve more effectively. It just depends on nature’s resources in that part of the world. The focus isn’t on one company or one technology—it’s on finally learning from nature and working with diverse resources to create power without destroying the species you’re creating that power for.

 Ocean Energy Tipping Point

After decades of development, several ocean energy companies are very close to commercialization. With support—in policies, subsidies, and investment—they could cross the last mile where research and development becomes commercial deployment of ocean energy. This is often the place where support is needed most. With investment and incentives, ocean energy companies such as Seabased could be producing clean electrical power in a year or two, exponentially hastening the Green Transition. Wave energy alone could theoretically produce more than 100% of the world’s current electrical consumption.

At present, we still have time to make this change without the fearsome repercussions that scientists warn are coming. We don’t know how much time. As COVID showed us, when Nature decides to change things, things change. Hopefully this time we’ll change first.

Making Wave Energy Affordable

Wave energy should be among the topics at the COP26 United Nations Climate Change conference. Wave energy is abundant around the world and could theoretically provide more than 100% of the world’s current electrical consumption, with no CO2. Driven by the promise of this resource, engineers and scientists have worked for decades to create technology that could convert the dense power of ocean waves into electricity. But for that technology to be deployed on the world’s shores, they had to make wave energy affordable, competitive with current energy sources. Companies like Seabased have had to bring down the cost of wave energy.

“For wave energy to be a viable alternative to fossil fuels it can’t just be clean, it can’t just be good for the environment, it also has to be cost-competitive with the energy that is being produced now,” said Seabased CEO Laurent Albert. “Those constraints have long been part of our design process and our market identification and continue to help guide us as we approach commercialization. In some of our markets, the electricity produced by our technology will actually be cheaper than the power currently being used.”

Islands are an obvious example. Thousands of islands around the world can’t function without expensive, polluting, imported diesel fuel. For the islands where the wave resource is right, wave energy could provide electricity from a renewable fuel source that costs nothing, is CO2-free, and is locally produced, offering energy security and clean air along with savings.

The goal, as Albert says, is to always keep in mind Seabased’s data-driven sweet spot at the confluence of performance, environmental safety, community benefit, and cost savings. For example:

Picking the best location for a wave energy park:

The farther into the ocean one goes, the more powerful the waves. So Seabased didn’t want to be onshore, where the waves are weaker. However, the farther one goes offshore to install equipment, the greater the cost. Seabased generators are designed to rest on the seabed, safe from the rougher waves at the surface that could shorten their lifespan (thus driving up costs). So our optimal locations can best be described as near-shore, at water depths of 20-50 meters.

• In our locations, the technology can rest safely on the seabed with only the rugged steel buoy on the surface.

• Installation and maintenance are much less costly where our generators are located than they would be if the generators had to be installed in deep water.

• Sea cable is costly; having to deliver power a long way via sea cable increases the price of the electricity.

Wave Park Installation

Seabased’s design always called for the generators to rest on an unprepared seabed that didn’t involve drilling or any other disruption of the environment.  Drilling damages the ecosystem and costs a fortune. Offshore drilling rigs cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Instead, Seabased anchors wave energy converters using heavy concrete bases that can be built with small holes on the sides that some sea life prefer to the otherwise barren ocean floor. This can increase biodiversity. The bases can also be built onsite, providing local labor. And if the park is ever decommissioned, removing the WECS is as simple as lifting them out of the ocean, leaving little trace that they were ever there.

Off-the-shelf parts for wave energy components

Seabased’s technology is protected by nearly 400 patents, yet the design—created and refined by scientists, and engineers--uses many component parts anyone could order online. One example is the company’s use of ferrite magnets, a kind of magnet that could be picked up at a hardware store. Seabased experimented with several magnets and discovered that, while pricier magnets can produce more power under some circumstances, they would drive up the cost of the wave energy beyond the extra boost of power.  The pricier magnets also put the supply chain at risk and depend on mining practices that have come under serious scrutiny for their mistreatment of labor.

Standardized shipping of wave energy components

Anyone who has seen a 75-plus-meter wind turbine blade being transported knows what an impressive sight that is. Transporting these monolithic turbines and towers has presented a lot of challenges to the wind energy industry. Seabased has learned that sometimes small is better. The company wanted to save fuel, and reduce wave energy’s cost, by being able to ship components and completed generators on regular cargo vessels. Other component parts, such as the concrete bases and buoys, are ideally built onsite which also saves fuel and shipping costs and creates local jobs.

Recycling of wave energy components

In the current design, Seabased manufactures buoys of recycled steel and will use and recycle other materials as possible. Recycling steel saves on carbon emissions and reduces the need for mining.

Seabased is in the process of evaluating and honing its lifecycle CO2 footprint. Early numbers are promising when calculating the impact of the measures the company has taken. Making wave energy that’s gentle on the environment and affordable for the people is essential to bringing this powerful resource into the renewable energy mix. And bringing stable, predictable wave energy into the renewable mix can significantly increase the percentage of renewables on the grid which is a key step to combatting climate change.

Wave energy could be the answer for the coming energy crisis

As the global economy rebounds from COVID-19 more quickly than expected, and extreme temperatures tax fuel reserves, the world is heading into a new global energy crisis. The last time we faced a crisis like this, in the 1970s, countries scrambled to make wind and solar energy a reality, and launched both industries. This time, wave energy is ready to meet the crisis. Resourcing wave energy, at this stage when companies like Seabased are already close to commercialization, would not only be a real solution for the problem today, but would powerfully combat the issue of rising CO2 emissions and global temperatures from here on. Conversely, investing in fossil fuel production as a solution would be like throwing fuel oil on a burning planet.

On October 6, addressing the European Parliament, Energy Commissioner Kadri Simpson noted that wind and solar—those industries the world supported and encouraged in the last energy crisis-- are not exposed to the price volatility of fossil fuels and generate the cheapest electricity in Europe:

“We have to be clear. The current price hike has little to do with our climate policies and much to do with our dependence on imported fossil fuels and their volatile prices,” she said. “The Green Deal provides the only lasting solution to Europe’s energy challenge: more renewables and improved energy efficiency.… The best response to the price challenge is to progress faster towards our target goal of 65% of renewable electricity by 2030.”

Time for wave to enter the renewable energy market

Wind and solar have transformed the energy landscape; but they can’t do it alone. After decades of development and deployment, they still provide only 10% of the power on the grid. They are simply too intermittent to generate the baseload of power grid operators need to meet demand. Electricity from ocean wave energy could provide more than 100% of the world’s current electric demand. Waves work 24/7, 365 days a year. Grid operators can predict, from 5-14 days in advance, how much wave power they can add to their baseload, and plan accordingly. Waves don’t have to be huge to produce meaningful amounts of power, either. Seabased, for example, has optimized its system to work best with 1-3 meters waves.

Despite the numerous benefits of wave, though, bringing wave energy to the market has taken longer than wind and sun took, and not just because the latter had more government support. The very advantages that wave energy has can make building a wave energy park very difficult. Building a technology that will survive in constantly moving saltwater—a substance 800 times denser than air—presents a daunting engineering challenge. Ocean testing costs considerably more than testing on land. Yet while journals and “experts” determined that these concerns made wave energy too difficult, too expensive, or too futuristic, to consider as a solution to the world’s energy and climate problems, companies like Seabased have been plugging away, solving the problems one at a time.

We’re currently optimizing our system that was designed from hundreds of patents as we figured out:

•  How to make wave energy work in the moderate waves that are most common in populated areas.

• How to turn inputs from many different waves happening at different seconds into a single stream of grid-ready electricity.

• How to protect our technology from the turbulent ocean environment by resting it safe on the ocean floor.

• How to both make significant amounts of clean electricity and protect the environment, even increase biodiversity.

• How to keep the costs low so wave energy can compete, in many markets, against currently used fuel sources.

The ocean wave energy industry has been tackling the obstacles to commercializing wave power with relatively little financial or policy support compared to wind and solar. Seabased and a few other companies whose technologies may work best in different environments, are now only months away from commercialization and making wave energy a viable source of electricity around the globe.

Wave power is an endless source of clean electricity

Ocean waves are a ubiquitous, endlessly renewable power source. The oceans cover 70% of the surface of the planet and most of the largest cities around the globe are coastal. We can map the wave resource to know where our technology will provide the best solution. It’s time to help push this emerging technology into the world. Wave energy can help solve the current and growing global energy crisis. It can also provide energy security and economic benefit to economically depressed areas that are currently completely dependent on expensive and polluting imported fossil fuels and are at greatest risk from the coming crisis.

This is wave power’s moment.

As Kadri Simpson told the EU: “Ultimately, the solution is the same, whether it’s about prices, security of supply or climate: scaling up local, affordable, renewable energy is the way forward.”

This adventurer found a mission in wave energy

Seabased profile: Project Management Officer Daniel Käller

Daniel Käller was only 19 when he started working on Seabased’s wave energy technology a decade ago. It was just supposed to be a summer gig after he graduated in 2011. As it turned out, helping to build an emerging industry in the challenging environment of the world’s oceans was a perfect match for a low-key Swedish guy who spends his free time doing extreme sports.

“When I started I didn’t know what to expect. I was really nervous—it was so scary going down to the big city to work with doctors and professors, but I quickly got comfortable,” he said.

Growing up with wave energy

Daniel started as a project assistant at Uppsala University in the Department of Electrical Engineering working on the marine substation electrical system for an R&D project at Islandsberg. After that he worked on the prototype of the marine current generator and final assembly of the generator and dry testing in the lab. Next, he was pegged to work on the prototype development and installation of the Wave Energy Converter. In 2012, he followed the technology to Seabased and became team leader for the final assembly of the generator with responsibility for 20 builders. Two years later, Daniel was promoted to Installation and Maintenance officer where he was responsible for installation in Sweden, Ghana, and elsewhere.

Since then he’s grown into the role of Project Management Officer responsible for developing and managing feasibility studies and site visits, planning and executing installation projects, and managing grants…among other things.

“When I started,” he said, “we were a Swedish engineering company. We were like Saab, built by engineers for engineers… Now we’re more like the US startups; the business part of it feels like it’s being done a completely different way.” What has remained from the early days, he said, is the sense that he’s surrounded by people who are excited by what they do and positive about the company and its future.

 “We’ve always had good people involved who liked to learn and like what they’re doing and that made work a lot more fun,” he said.

The feeling is mutual. “Daniel brings great energy to the team,” said Seabased CEO Laurent Albert. “He’s smart and flexible; he approaches every new project with enthusiasm and he’s quick to learn and gain expertise. He is a strong team player.”

Since he’s participated in the evolution of the company from R&D to the current process of preparing for industrial ramp-up, his deep knowledge of the company has only grown more important.

“I have actually built the generator, so I have a hands-on understanding of how it works and how it’s put together. I have installed demonstration parks on two continents. I have seen what we have done before, and I can help take that into account when we do something new. In most of the cases I can explain what we learned, including what we learned not to do again,” Daniel said. “We’re still quite a small company and we all have to do a lot of different things. I couldn’t just sit in the corner working on one thing. We have really effective communication and a lot of flexibility; that’s how small companies survive.” 

Project Management Officer Daniel Käller

intrepid at work and play

When he’s not working, Daniel’s often skiing, kite-skiing, roller skiing, hunting moose or engaging in some other adventure sport. Working at a company that is trying to bring a whole new industry to the world can be risky, as jobs go, compared to working for an established company in a mature industry. Daniel, though, as an adventurous soul, is less focused on the risk than on the opportunity to contribute to something he really believes in.

“Of course I think renewables are the future,” Daniel said. “Either we stop using electricity or find an environmentally friendly way to create it, those are the only two options we have. I truly believe in wave energy and I believe we can make it work, not just for Seabased but for other companies as well. If other companies succeed, that’s good for us too. Nobody remembers who built the first wind turbine now, it’s about building capacity to power the world with clean energy.  It’s really cool to start a new industry and a whole new way of thinking.”

Wave energy can fuel desalination

Drinkable water is essential to life; yet in some places, is dangerously scarce. As climate change advances, the problem is only expected to grow worse. Converting ocean water to fresh water through desalination could provide abundant drinking water. The reverse osmosis process used to remove the salt from ocean water, however, consumes enormous amounts of energy. This can be both financially and environmentally costly, since fossil fuels are often used. Wave energy can fuel reverse osmosis in a way that’s both clean and affordable.  

Around the world, more than 20,000 desalination plants provide water for more than 300 million people  every day. Some of this is in inland desert areas but much of it is along coastlines and on islands. Desalination also has been explored as a source for drinking water in disaster areas where floods or other disasters render the area’s water system unusable.  

How reverse osmosis desalination works 

In osmosis, a solvent of lower concentration moves through a membrane into a solvent of higher concentration until the concentration of both is about equal. So fresh water would move into salt water until they were both equally salty.  

In reverse osmosis, it goes the other way. Salt water is forced into fresh water. The sea water must be pumped into the system and forced through many filters to remove progressively smaller particles until it gets to the membrane that keeps the salt on one side while the fresh water travels through to the other. That explains the need for so much energy to arrive at newly desalinated water. 

Why wave energy is ideal for desalination 

Seabased wave energy power technology is an ideal power source for a desalination plant. Wave energy is an abundant, reliable, predictable source of power and it’s already in the ocean. A wave energy park could be built as a dedicated source for a desalination plant. Desalination can also be fueled by a wave power park that provides grid-ready electricity in which the desalination plant is operated as a side benefit, an offtake.

When a wave power park is connected to a grid system, the grid typically only uses some of the energy converted from the waves, getting some of its power from other sources. The wave power that is not used to create a baseload of renewable power for the grid could easily be channeled into fueling a reverse osmosis desalination plant. And since it comes from CO2-free, renewable, reliable wave power, the electricity produced would be gentle on the environment. In fact, Seabased wave energy power parks can become artificial reefs. 

Water covers 70% of the Earth’s surface and 80% of the world’s largest cities are on the coasts. So wave energy could fuel desalination plants in many coastal population centers and islands. Seabased’s wave power plants are designed to work in moderate wave climates, so huge waves are not required. In many markets, the price of fueling desalination with wave could be significantly lower than fossil fuels.

Desalinating sea water in a way that’s both affordable and environmentally sound, in conjunction with conservation, is going to be essential to ensuring that drinkable water is available. Wave energy is one great way to make that happen.  

10 big advantages of smaller wave energy converters

In the world of power generation, it is often assumed that bigger is better. But building a wave energy power park, it turns out, can be an exception. Seabased has refined its Wave Energy Converters (WECs) over many years, experimenting in different ocean environments with different designs. The aim has been to create a WEC and wave park design that meets several goals:

• Get the most energy possible from a moderate ocean wave climate.

• Impact the environment as little as possible.

• Make wave energy cost-competitive with more mature renewable technologies.

The result is a modular, scaleable wave energy power park with ­­­­relatively small WECs, buoys, and a marine substation electrical conversion system that can all be efficiently transported and installed with minimal impact on the environment. In the case of Wave Energy Converters, Seabased has discovered, smaller is better. Here are some reasons why:

1. Smaller WECs extract more power from moderate waves

One of the reasons bigger seems better is that, with other technologies, it is better. With wind turbines, for example, the larger the diameter of the area swept by the blades, the more power the turbine can generate. With solar, the more panel surface you have, the more power you can collect on a sunny day. Waves, however, work differently. We’re trying to collect as much energy as possible from each individual wave – in our case, medium-sized waves of 1-3 meters height. The right size buoy will be lifted to the peak and lowered to the trough of every single wave, maximizing access to the power it packs. If it’s too large for the wave climate, the buoy could straddle the waves, and the rising action of one wave would partially cancel out the falling action of another. Consider the relative stability – and comfort – of a large ship versus a smaller boat in rough water. But we’re not looking for comfort; we want to pull the most power out of each wave. So we want the wave energy converters to be smaller.

More people live where the waves are moderate, rather than huge. The buoys of Seabased’s point absorber linear generators are designed to work best where most people live.

2. Smaller WECs provide the most stable power

Grids need power that is delivered in a steady stream. Having many smaller wave energy converters working at different times, moved by different waves, achieves a more consistent stream of power. After studying the way that waves move in a particular location, we configure our smaller WECs in an array designed to maximize the power we can extract from that wave climate. Each of the WECs’ buoys will be doing different things at any given moment. One will be on its way up, another on its way down, another just rounding off the peak of a wave. They will be moving at different speeds, with different levels of resistance, and changing instant by instant. This asynchronous movement of many smaller buoys collectively produces a more stable stream of power than if you had a few larger buoys. It is easier to make this power ready for the grid, which requires a high degree of stability.

3. Smaller WECS offer a fast track to a lower LCOE 

It’s a time-tested principle of economics: Every time you double production of a thing, the cost of production drops, because you grow more efficient with repetition. This learning curve is often in the area of 80%. So if the first 20 units of a product takes 100 hours to make, the next 20 should only take 80 hours; the following 20, 64 hours; the next batch 51 hours…until you’ve reached maximum efficiency. The costs drop as efficiency rises. This accounts in part, for the low Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) achieved by many mature renewables today. With small WECs, more must be produced to create a power park, leading to a rapid learning curve and dropping costs.

4. Smaller WECs make for scaleable wave parks

Our modular, plug-and-play wave energy parks are designed so that wave park customers can start small, if they like, and scale up as needed.

5. Smaller WECs can be shipped with a smaller environmental impact

Seabased has designed its components so that they can be shipped in containers, which means that standard cargo vessels can move them along with other goods. This greatly reduces the carbon footprint of transportation for installation, relative to a large device that requires special transport.

6. Smaller WECs can be installed and maintained with smaller vessels

Because of their size, Seabased can use smaller work boats to install a wave energy park. Wind power parks tend to need much larger vessels because their power depends on long blades that create a larger diameter.

7. Smaller WECs can be installed quickly and sustainably

An entire wave park can be installed in only a few days, from wave to grid. And, because the WECs are small, no drilling, mooring, or other seabed preparation that could harm the environment is required. Their concrete bases are enough to anchor them to the sea floor. This means less cost and better outcomes for the ocean environment and ecosystem.

8. Smaller WECs mean more local jobs

With smaller WECs, it becomes easier to find facilities that are capable of building or assembling components locally. This means wave energy parks create local jobs. Very large components require facilities and transports that are unavailable in many places.

9. Smaller WECs make good neighbors

Coastal areas are prime real estate. Fishing, shipping, tourism, all compete for space in coastal areas. A wave power park needs utilize an area with optimal waves that will have the least impact on other local ocean stakeholders. Seabased’s smaller WECs are virtually invisible from the shore. This makes them good neighbors in area where ocean views are an essential part of a coastline.

10. An array of Smaller WECs can make the most of the waves

Before installing a wave energy park, we conduct extensive feasibility studies to understand, among other things, how waves move in that particular location. Because of latitude, climate, topography of the sea floor (bathymetry), and other factors, the length and shape and regularity of the waves will be a little different in each place. With smaller WECs, we have more flexibility to fine tune the arrangement of the wave park array to make the most of each wave climate.

Seabased arrived at its conclusions about size with a lot of testing and experimentation. But now, as we work toward the certification of our technology, we’re increasingly appreciative that size does matter—in our case, smaller is better.

Wave energy can accelerate the renewable transition

If the journey from fossil fuel energy to carbon-free renewable sources like sun and wind was a trip from London to New York, we’d only have made it as far as Limerick, Ireland. After decades of subsidies and development, only 10% of the power on the world’s grids comes from variable renewable energy (VRE) sources such as sun and wind, compared to more than 60% from fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas. (The other 30% is nuclear and dispatchables like biofuel and hydro.) Countries like Denmark and South Australia have nearly 50% VRE on the grid. But they’re the exception.

To meet our renewables targets, we’ve got the whole Atlantic ocean to cross.

The journey to carbon-free variable renewable energy

A big reason we’ve not gotten further with the green transition is intermittency.

Sun and wind can produce a lot of power at some points and completely stop at others. That doesn’t work well for grid operators who must always be able to provide a baseload of power—enough electricity to meet normal demand. That’s why they hang on to the power sources they know will be there: coal, oil, and gas; power sources they can dispatch on demand. Many add VRE when they can afford to, but so far it’s not a lot. Government subsidies have encouraged grid operators and utility companies to make room for sun and wind, which has made their development possible. In some parts of the world, these subsidies are now set to expire.

Getting to Net 0 by 2050

Scientists and engineers around the world are working to solve the problem by, among other things:

• Using battery storage to capture the power created by sun and wind and release it over time.

• Improving the grid so it can handle the intermittency better.

• Using dispatchables like biofuel and hydrogen (so named because you can “dispatch” them as you need, unlike solar and wind).

Every one of these options is being implemented, but they all have complications. For example, battery storage is often seen as the obvious solution. But it faces a multitude of problems. One of these is that battery technology today is almost entirely focused on lithium-ion batteries that utilize Cobalt, a metal mostly found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is infamous for human rights violations. Cobalt is often mined by children as young as seven. Cobalt can also be mined or collected from the seabed by drilling or pulling up the top layer from the sea floor. Research shows that such actions have profound environmental impacts; and the oceans are already in trouble. Alternatives to Cobalt are under research but none has replaced the industry standard yet.

Nearly every technology humans use to generate power has some environmental and/or social impact. The goal needs to be to create the most power with as little negative impact on the Earth as possible.

Wave energy can be a big piece of that solution.

Wave energy is a core piece of the puzzle

Wave energy is relatively stable, operating 24/7, 365 days a year. Wave power could, theoretically, produce more than 100% of the current electrical consumption. The ocean covers 70% of the earth’s surface, is available to large populations, and is highly reliable and predictable. Grid operators can know from 5-to-14 days in advance how much wave energy they will have to contribute to the baseload. By combining the reliability of wave with solar and wind, grid operators can substantially boost the amount of VREs on the grid without risking interruptions.

Wave energy has been advancing toward commercialization, despite not having the broad public support that enabled wind and solar to become established. Yet its viability does not yet seem to be understood. One study published in March 2021, for example, confirmed the value of wave energy to increase the amount of VREs on the grid, but seemed to rely on old data about whether wave energy companies could provide a kind of electricity that can be integrated into the grid. (One cited reference was from 2010; 11 years is a long time in the technology world.) Currently Seabased is in the process of fine-tuning our electrical system which does, in fact, convert the energy from many generators, channeling many waves, into a uniform stream of electricity calibrated for the grid.

Creating a new energy industry is expensive. Doing so when the equipment must be installed and tested in the ocean presents many difficulties not faced by those installing energy plants on land. The resulting carbon-free power will be more than worth the effort, but wave energy needs the kind of support in terms of incentives and subsidies solar and wind had to get us closer to Net 0. This fact was officially recognized in December 2020 when the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) signed a memorandum of understanding with Ocean Energy Europe(OEE) to partner in the push for regulation and incentives that would support ocean energy. Francesco de la Camera, IRENA’s Director General said in a statement:

“Renewable energy from oceans has the potential to meet four times the global electricity demand of today, foster a blue economy, and bring socio-economic benefits to some of the most vulnerable areas to climate change such as Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and coastal areas. Close cooperation with OEE in platforms like IRENA’s Collaborative Framework and Coalition for Action is absolutely vital to share knowledge with industry to ensure a widespread deployment of ocean and offshore renewables in the future.”

 Seabased’s solution

Seabased’s technology is easy to scale is optimized for medium waves of only 1-to-3 meters. In addition to being capable of providing ample power in many markets, Seabased has designed its technology to be gentle on the environment. We do not drill into the seabed or disrupt it, we just place our generators on the seabed with gravity bases. There are no moving parts that pose a risk to sea life; no toxins or emissions. Our power parks have even been shown to become artificial reefs in some environments, increasing biodiversity.  

Around the world, countries are recognizing it’s time to accelerate the energy transition. Wave energy, an abundant and perpetual resource around the world, could be a powerful catalyst.

International Renewable Energy Association: https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/global-share-of-electricity-generation-2019

June 12: A Day to Commit to Ending Child Labor Around the World

In recent years, governments and organizations have managed to reduce child labor around the world by nearly 40%. But one in 10 children under age 15 still have the years of childhood – years that should be filled with learning and play – replaced by labor, some of it life threatening. 2021 is the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour and June 12 is the UN’s World Day Against Child Labor.

Child labor is the result of many systems breaking down, forcing the child to support the family. That means that many people, companies, governments, educational organizations, and NGOs must work together to solve the complex problems that lead to child labor. As a company, Seabased believes it’s crucial for us to understand how we can help.

Experts recommend companies can help not only by refusing to hire children, but by:

1. Assessing the risk of forced labor. Look at the record of forced labor in the area where a supplier or location may be established and take extra caution in areas with a high incidence.

2. Adopting a policy of conduct that makes in clear your company is against forced labor.

3. Including contract provisions that specify actions you will take if anyone in the supply chain is found to use, or benefit from, child labor. This needn’t begin by termination. Sometimes helping to find solutions to the problem that gave rise to the child labor can be a better step. For example, some companies have raised the amount paid to workers in areas where child labor is a risk, so long as the adult workers commit to never engaging children in work. Ultimately, however, the contract must stipulate that suppliers comply.

4. Require ISO certification with regard to labor practices.

5. Where possible, monitor or seek to have your supply chain providers and locations monitored. If this is done by an NGO or other independent organization, it is not paid for by the company and is considered to have the most credibility although other monitoring options are available.

Seabased believes that the good produced by CO2-free, renewable energy can’t be called sustainable unless it also protects the environment and the most vulnerable in the communities where we operate. We have adopted our own policy against child labor and invite everyone to learn steps they can take in their own operations to protect children.

Energy Security: Because Power is Power

Wave Power Can Help Solve Critically Important Energy Security Issues

By Laurent Albert, CEO, Seabased

Energy security is, in essence, the ability to access the energy you need, when you need it. It means your digital connection to the world is intact. It means you can transport food, refrigerate, and cook it. You can access clean water, and if you need medical care, the hospitals have the power to use their equipment to keep you alive. Energy is the fuel of economic development, of a community or country being able to provide for its citizens. Secure access to power - or energy - leads directly to power, in terms of the ability to affect change. It is consequently a primary function of government.

A green transition that balances multiple renewable sources – solar, wind, wave, tidal - can provide a tremendous amount of energy security.

The move toward renewables is already reshaping the geopolitical landscape. As noted in a policy brief by the European Council on Foreign Relations, the balance of power has often been defined by access to energy. Alliances have formed around the need to acquire fossil and other fuels from other countries, irrespective of political ideologies. Greening the global energy structure, however, will shift that balance of power and realign global relationships. Energy security will become largely an issue of investment in, and development of, renewable sources close to home. Many countries think of this as wind and solar, but ocean energy, and particularly wave - which is rapidly approaching commercialization – provides a level of power and stability that will make it a significant contributor to energy security.

While no energy source is impervious to attack from humans or nature, local renewable energy has huge advantages. It connects communities to their own resources, strengthening them from within. And it provides a fuel source that – in the case of wave in particular – is predictable, ever present, and is gentle on the environment.

Modern renewables like solar, wind, wave, and tidal, are far less subject to the energy security threats posed by the fragile lifeline that can exist between the source of the energy and the country that depends on it. And those threats are numerous. Cybercrime for profit or political gain is understandably getting a lot of attention, but there are myriad situations in which energy security is threatened simply because the country or region that depends on the power has no control over its supply. A recent example is the Island of Jersey. Post-Brexit arguments over fishing rights caused France to threaten to invoke a clause of the Brexit agreement that would essentially turn off the power of the island, since France provides 95% of Jersey’s energy. Political wrestling leaves those who depend on foreign powers at their mercy when it comes to production, price, and supply.

Fortunately, one of the best ways to achieve energy security is also one of the best ways to protect the environmental health of our planet.

A Resource of Our Own

Modern renewable energy offers notable advantages that relate to energy security: cost control, risk mitigation, and increased self-determination.  

Once a community has a plant that can channel a natural resource into power, the fuel is essentially free. Instead of committing to decades-long contracts at often exorbitant prices for imported fuels, countries that depend on renewable resources can count on those resources to always be there, without paying a penny for the fuel itself. Some places that currently dedicate  a huge percentage of their import dollars to fuel – such as some African countries, parts of South America, Australia, and many islands – might be able to create a significant portion of their energy from wave power.

Furthermore, a community that relies on its own natural resources has a far greater ability to chart its own political course than one that must genuflect to the country that provides its energy. A case in point was the gas crisis that arose in Europe in the mid 2000s when Russia– Europe’s primary provider of natural gas – invaded Ukraine. Some places in the EU had no fuel for heat in the midst of a deadly cold winter. Europe was left in a particularly weak negotiating position.  

Wave Energy’s Unique Advantages

Wave energy is a game changer in that it’s a renewable that is also highly reliable. Wave power circumvents two risks that otherwise come with variable renewable energy (VRE) sources. One is the intermittency issue. The sun goes down, just when residential power needs are ramping up. The wind comes and goes. Ocean power, however, is much more constant. Waves roll in 24/7, 365 days a year. You can predict the amount of power you can glean from a wave climate from 5-to-14 days prior to the day you intend to use that power. Thus, wave energy, either by itself or in conjunction with other renewable sources, can increase energy security. And extremely large waves are not necessary. Seabased’s technology was designed to work well with medium-sized ocean waves that are common around the world.

Another issue, noted in a recent report by the Atlantic Council, is long transmission distances. The greater the distance between the source of the fuel, the power creation, and the power usage, the greater the risk of something interrupting the delivery of power. Wave, however, offers far fewer opportunities for bad actors to profit – either financially or politically. No pipeline is needed. The resource itself is free and cannot be held ransom, and it is close to population centers, both saving costs and greatly reducing the opportunities to disrupt transmission. A majority of large cities around the world are coastal. Many of these have nearby wave climates that would support a utility-scale wave energy park.

The path to financial and economic stability is to lean on resources available close to home that answer to the laws of nature rather than the whims of foreign powers. For many communities around the world, wave energy can play a key role in achieving energy security that is both renewable and CO2 free.

Celebrate the Oceans with World Oceans Day 2021

People tend to appreciate the oceans for specific things: the beaches, boating, the abundance of fish or the ease of transporting goods…but we may underestimate the abundance with which these bodies of water, that comprise 70% of our planet, provide. They supply most of our water, through rain. They are the architects of our climates, absorbing the heat of the sun that otherwise would scorch the earth, and moving that heat around the planet, creating warmth in cold climates.

They absorb the carbon in the atmosphere and create 50-80% of Earth’s oxygen through phytoplankton and other plants. More than 3 billion people depend on the oceans for their livelihoods. In the very near future, Seabased and other ocean energy companies intend that the oceans will supply a significant portion of our energy with clean, renewable ocean waves and tides. The Ocean Energy Council states that an average 4-foot, 10-second wave striking a coast puts out more than 35,000 horsepower per mile of coast.

They are the largest and most powerful influence on our planet, and yet we know more about our galaxy than about our oceans. Scientists believe more than 80% of the oceans are unmapped. And roughly 90% of the species in the oceans have yet to be discovered.

World Oceans Day is an opportunity to learn more about this unfathomable resource that, vast though it is, requires our protection.

Seabased hopes to soon be providing clean, utility-scale commercial energy to help people and communities around the world thrive. But we’re doing so in a way that also protects the precious resource that makes this possible. Happy World Oceans Day.

Seabased will install utility scale wave park in Brittany

In the race to commercialize wave energy, the Brittany region in France may plant a flag as home to Europe’s first utility scale commercial wave energy park. With the support of the region, Seabased, a wave energy company led by French CEO Laurent Albert, is planning to build a 10 MW wave power park in Audierne Bay.

“The Region of Brittany is pleased to support this particularly innovative commercial project which will contribute to the production of competitive renewable energy along the coast of Brittany,” says Loïg Chesnais-Girard President of the Regional Council of Brittany.

Philippe Thieffry, Manager of Bretagne Ocean Power noted that the project will help maintain the region of Bretagne as a unique showroom of ocean energy technology, especially since it could be Europe’s first grid-connected utility-scale wave energy park. And it will help promote industrial and economic growth in the region That is the purpose of Bretagne Ocean Power which serves as a central accelerator for marine renewable energy projects in the area.

For Seabased, the opportunity to install its soon-to-be-unveiled commercial system in Audierne bay is ideal. “Brittany is doing a fantastic job of building a one-of-a-kind ocean power innovation hub and ecosystem in an area that previously had few renewables,” says Albert. “They have been wonderful to work with and we look forward to continuing to collaborate with them to realize this milestone project.”

Why Seabased was chosen

Seabased already works with Brittany-based ENAG, a company that specializes in energy conversion. ENAG has built Seabased’s unique electrical system.

“Seabased’s relationship with ENAG is important for us in terms of being compliant with the roadmap for industrial development for Brittany,” says Thieffry. “But in choosing renewable energy projects to complement the ones already in the region, it is also important for us to invite companies that are on the verge of commercialization, that have already performed some tests at full scale in real conditions.”

Bretagne Ocean Power has already developed ocean energy projects in the area, identified the zones that work for different technologies, and worked with local stakeholders such as local fishermen. “There’s a huge amount of support in Bretagne to see these new ocean energy projects come to life,” Thieffry says.

The planned wave power park will begin with a pilot 2MW and scale up to 10MW and will be connected to the French grid.

Seabased’s wave power technology uses a buoy on the surface of the ocean that moves with the waves. This motion lifts a heavy, magnetized weight called a translator up and down inside the generator that rests on the sea floor. The generator – called a Wave Energy Converter, or WEC - converts this mechanical energy into electrical energy which it sends to Seabased’s unique electrical system, also located on the seabed. The electrical system converts the power from many generators to a single stream of grid-ready electricity.

The company has completed two grid-connected wave power demonstration parks and is in the process of final system optimization and 3rd party certification before full commercialization.

For the CEO of Seabased, this project has an extra benefit. “I’m very happy to announce our first commercial project in Europe in my home country,” Albert said.

Seabased global wave resource map shows where wave energy is possible

When people think of ocean waves, they think of big waves crashing into the shore or tossing about ships. They may not recognize that waves that seem relatively tame and gentle have enormous power, too. In building the technology to capture the power of ocean waves to channel into electricity, Seabased needed a tool to understand where waves are a viable source of power at utility scale: so we built one.

The data visualization above shows the power the ocean waves around the world. The most powerful waves are seen in bright red, nearer the poles; the least powerful are in deep blue – often in places protected from heavy winds. Between those two is a whole range of wave climates. The numbers indicate how many kilowatts (kW) of energy per meter wavefront are available in each region.

“Many if not most wave technology developers have focused on big waves, because those waves can undoubtedly create a lot of power,” explains Dr. Francisco Francisco, Seabased’s manager of Energy and Environment. “But most of the people in the world live in the mid and lower latitudes. That’s why Seabased designed our technology to best fit these regions.”

So the huge swaths of light blue, teal, green and pale yellow – where waves are likely to be moderate – is also where the bulk of the global population is.

Besides the fact more people live near smaller waves, there is another advantage to focusing on those waves: cost. “The more powerful the waves that the equipment has to endure, the stronger the equipment needs to be, which often drives the price up,” continues Francisco. “That cost is not always justified when you consider the number of days the wave park could provide increased power from these very large waves. We want the commercial success of wave energy to be a huge contributor to the transition to renewables. That can only happen if wave power is affordable, competitive with other renewables.”

More importantly, the research shows that a place where waves are smaller but steady for months and months of the year can produce as much or more electricity than a place where waves are very powerful during fewer days of the year. By tracking the resource, we see where the most power is actually produced over time. Regions with waves with a power as low as 8 kWh per meter wavefront, when using Seabased technology, may produce a predictable stream of electricity that is competitive in price and can replace other fuels on the grid.

A lot of factors go into how much power waves can create. This global map, created using Google Earth and the IOWAGA-Ifremer database, helps us identify locations where Seabased equipment could catch the most energy to work efficiently and competitively.

Currently, Seabased is in the final stages of pre-commercial optimization and certification of its wave-to-grid system. Already we have over 200 megawatts of projects planned around the world, many in those in low to medium wave climate – or cool color - places. 

Wave energy could produce enough stable energy  to the grid to change the game.

3D Modeling helps optimize the power output from Seabased’s generators

The beauty of 3D modeling is that you can see what’s happening on the inside of a complex system, as well as on the outside. 3D, hydrodynamic CFD modeling offers a good way to understand in precise detail how a linear generator responds to a buoy moving through different waves. Seabased engaged the University of Edinburgh to use their powerful 3D tool to model the direct drive linear generator´s response to different kinds of waves.

The results enable Seabased to better optimize its wave-to-grid system by maximizing the power generation achievable from multiple generators connected to one electrical system. The company is looking for the sweet spot, the optimal point, where the system can produce maximum output at minimum cost, without risking excessive wear and tear on system components.

 “It has been exciting for us to participate in this project," said Professor Markus Mueller, Chair of Electrical Generation Systems at the University’s School of Engineering. “We work with a number of companies and Seabased has advanced technology in the wave energy sector.

The project is part of an ongoing system optimization project in advance of the commercial launch of the Seabased wave-to-grid system.

One of the studies used the university’s 3D modeling capability to model how the generator reacts as the buoy moves through the waves. This information will be used to refine the system to optimize the amount of grid ready electricity that can be produced.

The goal of the second study was to acquire even more granular data around producing maximum electrical power with the correct voltage for the grid while not overheating the equipment. 

With Seabased’s technology/solution, a buoy on the surface of the ocean moves with the waves. This motion lifts a heavy, magnetized weight called a translator, up and down inside the generator. The generator – called a Wave Energy Converter, or WEC - converts this mechanical energy into electrical energy which it sends it to Seabased’s unique electrical system, also located on the seabed. This system converts the power from multiple WECs into 33kv DC electricity suited for grid use.

Seabased CEO Laurent Albert said he was pleased with the results that came out of the university. “The University has a stellar reputation,” he said. “The work they did is part of a larger campaign to reduce any margins of uncertainty in preparation for certification and industrial ramp-up of Seabased’s wave energy parks. 

We are delighted that the results they produced are in line with previously measured performances and that the study gave us tangible insights in the optimization of the whole system.”  

 As Seabased finalizes the specifications for the commercial system, it aims to maximize power output while keeping a firm cap on costs. Factors to consider in system optimization include:

• Getting the most power, at the proper voltage, in different wave climates

• Finding the ideal balance between power output and heat flux in the generators

• Finding the balance between energy output and cost of energy (which includes using off-the-shelf parts)

Protecting the environment and keeping the lifecycle CO2 low

“Partnerships with organizations like the University of Edinburgh mean that many minds are working to solve the complex equations that will help bring wave energy to the renewable market,” notes Albert.