Advanced Archimedes Waveswing

Stage 1

June 2017

This project set out to complete a full proof-of-concept and techno-economic feasibility study for a new variant of the Archimedes Waveswing™. This innovation, if feasible, is expected to deliver a significant advancement over the Waveswing™ MK II for which development was suspended in 2009 due to poor economic performance. In particular, the new arrangement was expected to remove significant costs from the mechanical and electrical (“M&E”) sub-systems whilst also allowing the development of potentially smaller devices to allow an early route to market (competing with diesel in remote locations).

The specific objectives of the project were:

• To advance the understanding of the Waveswing™ technology, including in particular the hydrodynamics of the new arrangement and to use this understanding to develop and validate advanced numerical models of the system;
• To demonstrate a novel and highly effective control strategy for stroke limited devices without the need for advanced knowledge of incoming waves or use of model predictive control;
• To confirm the energy capture potential for low-volume sub-sea wave energy converter (“WEC”) devices and to demonstrate broad-banded responses across a range of sea-states;
• To create and validate a parametric techno-economic model and to use this tool to identify the optimal configuration for best economic performance and early demonstration of the Waveswing™ technology;
• To carry out sufficient concept engineering (including review of the significant work completed for the previous Waveswing™ variant prior to 2009) and from this to identify the technical challenges, concept solutions and technology development plan;
• To identify a development pathway, which can lead to a levelised cost of energy (“LCOE”) of less than £150/MWh.

An additional subcontractor in Stage 1 was Imperial College London. 

Stage 2

May 2019

The Stage 1 project identified revised configurations which offered potential for significant improvements to the economic performance of the Archimedes Waveswing™ WEC whilst also expected to reduce technical risk. The Stage 2 project objective was to confirm the feasibility of the improved configurations and to prepare for a potential Stage 3 project involving at-sea demonstration of a partial-scale prototype.

The specific objectives of this project stage were to:

• Resolve the technology challenges identified during Stage 1;
• Update concept engineering for new configuration and generate cost estimates based on the revised designs;
• Improve the numerical model for the device and validate against experimental data in order to allow performance optimisation and controller development;
• Conduct performance and survival testing for the revised configuration at model scale;
• Update the LCOE assessment based on revised designs, costs, performance and operational data;
• Prepare for a Stage 3 project including completion of front-end engineering design for a partial scale prototype

Stage 3

March 2023

This Stage 3 project completed the design, fabrication, deployment and testing of a 1:2 scale prototype Archimedes Waveswing Wave Energy Converter (WEC). The project included the development and lab testing of novel components and systems prior to integration in the WEC for at-sea testing. The Stage 3 project reduced technical and commercial risks, and fulfilled an essential step in the route to commercialisation for the Waveswing technology.

The project includes a number of different test phases including:

• 1:20 performance testing 
• 1:30/1:40 survival load testing
• PTO onshore cycling
• Seal material testing & seal component cycling
• 1:2 Prototype Archimedes Waveswing deployment at the Scapa Flow test site in Orkney

The Archimedes Waveswing is an indigenous Scottish WEC, and has proven to be one of the most efficient WEC prime movers worldwide. After over a decade of research and development, and significant advances in performance during the three stages of the WES NWEC programme, AWS Ocean believes that the Waveswing provides the best technical prospect for unlocking the un-tapped resource of ocean wave power.