By
TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff
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A wave-energy buoy created by URI and Electro
Standards Laboratories can generate electricity for
offshore and nearshore uses.
(Photos courtesy of Electro Standards Laboratories/URI)
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The
eternal quest to harness the power of the sea is showing promise off the coast
of southern New England, but dwindling financial and policy support have
stalled efforts to bring it to market, according to the developers of this
unique source of renewable energy.
Modest
grants, sweat equity and student classwork, so far, have produced separate yet
similar projects in Massachusetts and Rhode Island for harvesting energy from
waves.
Wave-energy
buoys — also called wave-energy absorbers — are in development at the School
for Marine Science and Technology at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
A second public-private partnership is ongoing between Electro Standards
Laboratories (ESL) of Cranston, R.I., and the University of Rhode Island
College of Engineering.
Wave
buoys developed through both projects generate electricity from the constant
bobbing, or heave motion, of cylinders sealed within partially submerged,
watertight ballasts. The moving cylinders pump generators that deliver
immediate power for onsite use.
Prototype
buoys have confirmed that moderate East Coast waves have the potential to
support both inshore and offshore energy needs.
"The idea is, it’s just kinetic energy and you want to capture it," said Raymond Sepe Jr., vice president of research and development for ESL, a family-owned technology company.
A
2008 international report entitled “Ocean Wave Energy” claims the world’s
oceans contain sufficient wave energy to match global energy consumption. While
only 10 percent to 25 percent of the power can realistically be captured for
electricity, the energy is nonetheless adequate to significantly curtail
fossil-fuel use, the report concluded.
Early
models demonstrate that wave-energy buoys are suited to replace the batteries
in navigation beacons and floating weather monitors. A cluster of buoys might
also provide supplemental electricity for an offshore research platform, or
even recharge a submersible vehicle.
In
the long term, bigger wave buoys are projected to deliver greater output
through utility-scale projects.
"For
mass energy production, the same concept could be applied to create a farm of
many point absorber buoys,” said Stephan Grilli, professor of ocean engineering
at URI. “This would be a very promising way of producing megawatts of
power."
The
electrical output of wave-energy buoys, so far, is too low to feed into the
electric grid, but a charge of about 10 watts is adequate to power offshore monitors
that detect tidal waves and oil spills.
"We’re
not going to replace a fossil-fuel electric plant," said Daniel MacDonald,
professor of oceanic engineering at UMass-Dartmouth and manager of the school’s
buoy project. Wave-energy buoys, he explained, also have nearshore uses as
well, functioning tethered to a dock, port area or mooring to recharge or power
recreational or maritime electrical devises.
Low
cost and durability are major benefits of locally generated buoy power. It’s
also a technology that, with funding, can be operational fairly soon.
Other
wave-energy technologies that seek to harness bigger waves, such as those in
the Pacific Northwest, can’t yet withstand the battering from heavy seas,
MacDonald said. “It’s double-edged sword. There’s a lot of energy (in that
region) to destroy things.”
Big-wave
technology, he estimated, is at least a decade away from commercial viability.
“Let’s get something in the water instead in a fraction of that time, so we’ve
got something generating power,” MacDonald said.
MacDonald
initially envisioned the buoy idea as a means to temper waves causing coastal
erosion. The concept may yet be utilized as erosion worsens from climate
change, he said. “Why not capture that energy and put it somewhere useful?”
Wading in slowly
While wind, solar, biomass and even geothermal get the bulk of attention and money, an array of alternative energy sources are needed to ultimately reduce the reliance on fossil fuel-based power plants, according to MacDonald.
Using
a student-built prototype, MacDonald and his students' research projects that
only a few years are needed to develop a marketable buoy that generates about 1
kilowatt of power. At an estimated price of $1,000 apiece, the buoy would be
low maintenance and financially viable for both nearshore and offshore use.
For
now, the UMass-Dartmouth wave energy converter (WEC) project focuses on
nearshore applications. Dry indoor tests with the prototype buoy coupled with
mathematical models of wave data from a cove in New Bedford show viability of
the buoy as an energy source for devices near docks, marinas and piers.
A
modest $50,000 has sustained the project so far, with funds from UMass, the
U.S. Department of Energy, the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC)
and the New
England Marine Energy Center.
In
order to proceed, the project needs a second prototype buoy and more funding.
But a slowdown in government spending on renewable energy caused by federal
sequestration enacted in March 2013, coupled with a drop in private green
energy investment, has stalled the flow of capital.
The
URI/ESL project has hit the same financial wall. Since it began in 2007, the
public-private partnership has spent about $2 million to design, build and test
two working buoys for harvesting wave energy, one of which is showing strong
results.
The
first is a 12-foot direct-drive model that resembles a giant yellow lollipop
(photo below). The round buoy suspends a single linear generator that thrusts
underwater like a shock absorber with the wave movement.
The
second and more technically advanced is the resonant-drive model (video below).
It also utilizes a single, linear generator buoyed by four spars, or pontoons,
that offer greater stability and wave absorption. A major benefit of the
resonant-drive model is that all moving parts are contained within the housing,
thus nearly eliminating the corrosive wear caused by seawater.
Both
are hybrid systems, meaning thin-film solar panels are wrapped around the
pontoons to enhance energy generation.
Like
the UMass-Dartmouth buoys, the URI/ESL ones produce electricity from the
Northeast's moderate-size 1- to 2-foot waves. As a self-sustained power
systems, the URI/ESL models can operate offshore or tethered to a dock, port
area or mooring.
URI
students tested the buoys in wave tanks at the university's Narragansett
campus. They also designed the early prototypes with URI faculty and staff. URI
also fabricated many of the key components, while ESL employees — several of
them URI graduates — engineered and assembled the buoys several miles from the
water at its facility in a office park. Students and ESL staff participated in
open water testing done at the mouth of Narragansett Bay, near Jamestown.
"It’s
a partnership that’s been very good for both of us," Sepe said. "It’s
been a good example of how industry and academia can work together."
Big splash needed
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| A direct-drive wave-energy buoy. (ESL) |
Yet, the jump from promising prototype to a commercially viable system requires more funds. "That’s the barrier to entry,” Sepe said.
Funding,
so far, has been awarded from the Office of Naval Research and the Rhode Island Science
and Technology Advisory Council (STAC).
The
next step is securing additional capital and determining the ideal buoy size to
match ocean conditions a mile or so from shore. The latest URI/ESL prototype
will increase to 40 feet, but the focus continues on minimizing parts and
making them rugged and durable. Funds also are required for permitting and
maintenance. As the buoys get bigger other costs also increase, such as the
need for a larger boat.
Real-world
uses for the buoys await, Sepe said, but without funding the partnership halts
and a promising market goes untapped.
As
a 2013 report shows, the URI/ESL
project is a viable technology developed in a region that offers the commercial
and academic resources as well as the technology and engineering expertise.
“However,
a lot more R&D is required," Grilli said.
Leadership
is also needed to grow the partnerships, Sepe said. He said funding from
sources such as STAC is small and sporadic, while support for new investment in
promising technologies is lacking.
"What’s
missing is the vision to put it together and follow through,” Sepe said. “I
believe that the state ... from the governor to our senators to our economic
organizations should be trying to find ways to get us resources, not looking
for ways to disqualify them.”
Sen.
Sheldon Whitehouse, D-R.I., who recently visited ESL, said protecting existing
federal renewable energy tax credits and incentives from further cuts is a top
priority.
Marion
Gold, commissioner of Rhode Island's Office of Energy Resources, said she was
unaware of the URI/ESL wave project but wanted to learn more. “At this time,
however, we are not actively engaged in research and development activities
centered around wave energy,” she said.
The
public, Sepe said, needs to learn about new technologies and how they can
succeed through local partnerships. “The battle here is to get the word out
about what we are doing to sustain development,” he said.
The
UMass-Dartmouth project continues to operate on a shoestring — the $50,000
stretched thanks to extensive work from students to build a land-based
prototype and draft a technical report. MacDonald said at least another $50,000
is needed to get the prototype in the water for more trials. An additional
$150,000 advances the prototype to commercial development, he said.
Many
government funding programs for renewable energy tend to focus on more mature
renewable technologies, such as solar and wind, where production time is
shorter, and jobs in the manufacturing, installation, and maintenance sectors
can be realized on election cycle time-frames. The stage of research and
development funding that is required for wave energy conversion can sometimes
be a tough sell, acknowledged MacDonald.
The
federal sequestration cut renewable energy funding from sources that have
typically supported emerging renewable energy, such as the National Science
Foundation's Sustainable
Energy Pathways program.
MacDonald
is exploring other financing options such as private investors and start-up
accelerators such as Cleantech Open. A New Bedford company is
considering the UMass-Dartmouth buoys as part of an offshore telecommunications
network.
Other
new sources also could help fill the financial gap. Mass CEC recently launched InnovateMass,
a matching fund program for pre-commercialization projects. Funding is
considered “technology agnostic,” meaning all green technology projects get a
fair shake, said Galen Nelson, director of market development for MassCEC.
Rhode
Island also offers grants and loans through newly revised funding programs
through the Commerce
Corporation. This year, the Renewable Energy Fund has enhanced
programs for commercial development, pre-feasibility studies and early-stage
development projects.
"There’s
a lot of opportunity here," Sepe said. “I believe our area can become a
pioneer in ocean renewable energy and in wave harvesting energy."
This story was funded through a grant from the Marion-based Island Foundation.
It's the first article in a four-part series on grassroots renewable energy
efforts ongoing in southern New England.