Czero supports commercial wave energy
Since 2018, Czero has been providing engineering services to further develop CalWave’s award-winning Wave Energy Converter (WEC) technology with the aid of funding by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). CalWave Power Technologies Inc. provides an innovative solution to harness the renewable power of ocean waves to produce electricity and has proven their technology is ready for continued scale up.
"The ocean energy industry can be compared to the wind industry in the early 90's and therefore is an often-overlooked renewable resource that has potential to provide large amounts of renewable power. Unlike other renewables such as solar photovoltaics and wind, ocean power is much more continuous and predictable allowing it to be a great complement to those other resources. Unfortunately, the ocean is a harsh environment and therefore ensuring these systems work well over long periods of time in a cost-effective manner is tough. Czero’s extensive experience working on subsea systems and energy harvesting makes this an ideal project for us. The CalWave team has a very innovative technology and we are excited to work with them on this great project."
—Guy Babbitt, Ph.D, Co-founder and CEO, Czero
Proven with field testing
In September 2021, CalWave’s xWave was deployed for a 10 month sea trial. Their submerged approach to tidal energy generation maintained beautiful ocean vistas and a safer environment for marine life while continuously generating electricity. The system operated while submerged at different depths to optimize energy conversion and dropped lower to avoid destructive swells. CalWave collaborated with the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Triton Initiative and DoE Water Power Technologies Office and has been an active member of the National Hydropower Association’s Marine Energy Council, which is calling for domestic marine energy to reach at least 50 megawatts by 2025, 500 by 2030, and 1 gigawatt—similar to the power that more than 3 million solar panels can produce—by 2035.
"We got introduced to Czero several years ago through an advisor of CalWave with experience in the tidal energy sector. Since then, we’ve learned about previous fruitful collaborations of Czero on the advancement of other hydro-kinetic energy technologies during the last years’ ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summits. Our team is looking forward to the collaboration with the experienced engineering team of Czero."
—Marcus Lehmann, Co-founder and CEO of CalWave Power Technologies
Continuing support
Over the years, CalWave has utilized Czero expertise to turn their clean energy concepts into a reality, specifically relating to their smaller X1 series Power Take Off (PTO) system. Initial work with CalWave involved review and assessment of their concept for the subscale unit, which Czero played a key role later in design support of the energy generation driveline. With a 20-year design life in demanding marine environments and a multiyear service life, these systems needed unique solutions that Czero could provide through our expertise. Additionally, large scale feasibility studies were conducted, and finally design support with their planned mid-scale WEC during 2023. Czero plans to continue to support CalWave in progressing their technology to a point that is commercially viable on a larger scale.
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