Wave Energy

BioPower Systems Pty Ltd. [website], situate in Sydney, Australia, and established in 2006 developed bioWAVE. a world-leading system for extraction of energy from ocean waves, allowing direct conversion to certifiable grid-quality electricity. The O-Drive product is a standardised self-contained power conversion module (or Power Take-Off module) for use in wave, tidal and wind energy projects. The technology is designed to harness the energy in tidal currents, without rotating blades, and is therefore expected to have minimal impacts on aquatic species. Our products are designed using nature-inspired principles, combined with rigorous best-practice engineering, and are intended to provide cost-effective clean energy supply in a wide range of conditions and locations.

Management is currently completing a grid-connected project that will demonstrate electricity supply from a full-scale 250kW bioWAVE and O-Drive installation. Further projects aimed at improving the technical and commercial performance of all products are being investigated. Ultimately, the aim of the company is to deliver its products to micro-grid, off-grid and island customers and to utility-scale projects connected to distribution grids.

The company is following a strategic path towards offering advanced renewable energy products to the global market:

Employ a highly-specialised team of skilled engineers and technicians;
Develop, design and patent world-leading renewable energy technologies;
Demonstrate innovative and cost-effective products in off-grid, micro-grid, and grid-connected projects;
Partner with successful organisations to deliver projects of increasing capacity;
Offer commercial ocean energy products to the global market;

The bioWAVE is a submerged structure that sways naturally back and forth beneath ocean swell waves. Energy absorbed from the waves is converted to electricity by an onboard self-contained O-Drive module. The electricity is delivered to onshore consumers by a subsea cable.

Each installment is several stories high and can produce up to 250kW of steady electrical power, roughly equivalent to about 200 houses. Electricity supplied from each one is expected to be more consistent than supply from wind or solar power; and could be the considered near-baseload in many locations.

The technology is protected by patents in all potential markets worldwide.

Projects

The Port Fairy Pilot Wave Energy Project, with full exposure to the Southern Ocean swell, involves the design, construction, installation and testing of a full-scale bioWAVE pilot plant equipped with a 250kW O-Drive module. Design and project development were completed during 2012 - 2014. The unit was constructed during 2014-2015, and project installation (including onshore equipment, subsea cable, bioWAVE and O-Drive) was completed during 2015 - 2016. The project is scheduled for operation and testing during 2017. Data acquired from the project, and experience gained, will be used in the further commercialisation of the bioWAVE and O-Drive concepts.

The project is intended to test and demonstrate the technologies at a full-scale grid-connected site for up to 12 months;

Funding for the project has been provided by BPS, ETIS (Vic. Government), and ARENA (Aust. Government).

Documents and Notices: Community Consultation Plan, Environmental Management Plan, Exclusion Zone Map and Notice to Mariners 1 & 2 [Link]

BPS is currently developing a pipeline of future wave and tidal energy projects. Project sites have been identified in Australia and USA, and further project sites are under investigation.

Development of the Port Fairy site for follow-on testing of bioWAVE technologies, or for expansion, may be considered following assessment of the outcomes of the current project.

BPS is currently pursuing these:

BPS has identified project sites in Australia and USA and has completed various stages of feasibility, permitting, and design;
New island-based and remote-location sites are being identified for early market penetration;
Project economics are viable in the near-term, based on displacement of diesel fuel supply in isolated locations;
Next-generation BPS technologies are being designed to be equally applicable to remote-location installations and mainland grid supply.

News

Ocean energy company, BioPower Systems (BPS), today announced that the Victorian Minister for Energy and Resources, the Hon. Michael O'Brien MP, has awarded the company conditional funding support of $5 million under the Sustainable Energy Pilot Demonstration Program.

The funding will be applied towards the $14 million pilot demonstration of the company's 250kW bioWAVE ocean wave energy system at a grid-connected site near Port Fairy, Victoria.

"In developing the bioWAVE technology we set out to address the many issues that have bedeviled most wave energy technologies," said CEO, Dr Timothy Finnigan. Inspired by the motion of large sea plants under wave action, and conscious of the costs and difficulties of doing development work in the ocean, BPS took the unusual step of spending five years performing multiple on land tests at increasing scale prior to ocean deployment. The most critical component has been tested at full scale at its factory in Mascot NSW (Sydney).

"We are now ready for the ultimate test - installing the bioWAVE in high energy 30-metre deep ocean waters. We have to raise another $3.6 million to complete the project funding, and given our results to date we are confident of achieving this in the coming months. The technology has been positively assessed by more than a dozen independent reviewers," said Dr Finnigan.

The unique bioWAVE differs from other wave technologies in three critical ways.

Firstly, it is designed to generate grid compatible electricity 'in situ' and hence is connected to the shore via a sub sea electrical cable only. This gives good flexibility on locating the plant, opening up access to greater energy resources, while always transmitting the energy to shore efficiently as high voltage electricity.

Secondly, during extreme wave conditions it will automatically assume a "safe" position lying flat against the seabed. This reduces the structural design requirements (and hence cost) while maintaining reliability.

Thirdly, the design, utilising a patented wide "multi-blade" structure, is expected to capture a much higher proportion of the available energy than other designs.

"We believe bioWAVE will, when fully commercially developed, produce electricity at a price highly competitive with wind and be closer to baseload characteristics than either wind or solar", said Dr Finnigan. "It is gratifying that the potential of the technology has been recognised by the Victorian Government," he added.

Source: PRNewswire.com, 2011 [Link]