The 3-year MegaRoller project is a collaboration project that includes ten partners across companies and research institutes. The Horizon2020 funding will enable resources for research of innovative ideas aimed to benefit the entire wave energy industry. The goal is to produce a commercially feasible Power Take-Off unit for a 1 MW device.
AW-Energy is currently preparing to extend the rating of its WaveRoller device to 1MW with a team of world class expertise across Europe, according to AW-Energy Product Quality and Certification Manager Tuula Mäki.
The project will commence in early May 2018. The 1 MW PTO will be designed, built and tested at the AW-Energy research centre in Finland. AW-Energy is aiming to further drive down the levelized cost of energy with its MegaRoller project, utilising the latest technology from other engineering disciplines. The company also anticipates that developments in machine learning and IoT will enable it to help reduce the price of energy.
The MegaRoller project is being coordinated by Hydroll, a long-time partner of AW-Energy and one of the project partners. Other project partners from Portugal, Finland, Germany and Norway, include ABB Finland, Cruz Atcheson, WavEC, Hydman, SINTEF, VTT, the University of Bergen and the Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology.
Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU Research and Innovation programme ever with nearly 80 billion euros of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020).
AW-Energy’s flagship product, WaveRoller, is a submerged wave energy converter based on a hinged panel that is attached to the sea bed in the near shore area. It generates electricity from the movement of the waves (the surge phenomenon) and is connected to the electric grid onshore. The company is based in Finland, and operates in multiple continents cooperating with strong industrial partners.
Image: AW Energy
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