Wave Energy Scotland (WES) has announced over £660,000 of funding for 13 new projects aiming to develop innovative control systems for wave energy converters. The initiative will bring together control systems specialists from mature sectors such as aerospace and oil and gas, to work with Scottish technology developers in addressing the challenges of controlling and integrating Wave Energy Converter (WEC) systems and their components.

Control systems can enhance energy yield, reduce operating costs and increase survivability of wave energy devices, all contributing to a lower cost of energy.  This is the 4th innovation call from WES that sees the WES technology programme reaching full capacity, funding 48 projects, engaging 163 organisations from industry and academia, and investing £25.3m over the last 3 years.

Minister for Business, Innovation and Energy Paul Wheelhouse said: “I am very pleased to announce this latest funding by Wave Energy Scotland for innovative control systems. I know that the call attracted applications of a very high calibre and from some of the world’s leading control systems companies.

“I am especially proud to see the number of Scottish firms involved at lead contractor or subcontractor level and I am confident that some of these projects will play a part in improving the performance of the wave energy devices of the future.”

Tim Hurst, Managing Director for Wave Energy Scotland, added: “These thirteen proposals are very exciting. Once they are teamed with the different wave energy devices at later stages in the programme, we expect them to manage any of the conditions Scotland’s climate might throw at them. With today’s ocean measurement technologies and data processing advances, the control system should be able to monitor the waves and adjust the wave energy device’s movement to suit them.

“In a storm, this might mean protecting the device by submerging the wave energy converter or changing the way it moves in big waves. In medium sized waves, the control system might adjust settings to extract as much power as possible. A good control system should be able to do this remotely and efficiently.  These new projects will take us further towards our quest of finding the winning designs for a cost-effective wave energy device.”