Leveraging Co-Development for the Energy Capture Subsystem of a Small-Scale Adaptive Wave Energy Converter

The 2019 report on Powering the Blue Economy identifies ocean observations as a key area that marine energy technologies can open new pathways to sustainable development. Co-development of small- scale marine energy devices with ocean observation platforms can insure successful integration and operation. However, continued research is needed to understand and optimize the performance of these systems across a broad range of potential deployment sites. The proposed research effort addresses the need for co-developed systems by investigating the power requirements of an ocean observing platform along with the power production of a small scale cross- flow marine current turbine. Models for each of the system components will be built using data available from laboratory and field testing to develop a deployment planning toolkit. This toolkit will use publicly available site resource data to perform an initial assessment of the turbine’s power production across multiple locations. The power availability will inform an operational model of the observing platform to estimate battery storage requirements for a range of oceanographic monitoring missions. Field trials of a prototype system will allow for validation of the model outputs and baseline assessment of the overall system costs. Use of this toolkit will enable rapid assessment of future deployment opportunities, optimization of the system components, and prioritization of further research and development efforts. This proposal leverages over a decade of research and develop performed in university laboratories to advance the co-developed marine energy systems for ocean observations. Commercialization of this system will have broad application for the ocean observing industry. In situ power generation will provide capabilities similar to a cabled observatory without the need for cable installation, which is often cost-prohibitive at approximately $1M per kilometer, and real-time on-board processing will allow data compression for satellite transmission. By harvesting energy from marine currents, the system could be deployed for longer periods without frequent recovery and redeployment, as well as communicate with shore via radio or satellite networks to provide timely information to resource managers. Such a system could be used as a reconfigurable ocean observatory, to evaluate potential marine energy sites prior to cable installation, or for port and harbor security monitoring. As part of the initiative to Power the Blue Economy, this system would enable state-of-the-art marine monitoring in previously inaccessible locations.