Energy from the
ocean is also clearly renewable as the persistent rotation of the moon around
Earth guarantees the steady ebb and flow of tides. Unfortunately, ocean forces have not been as
easy to harness as river waters. Tidal and
wave power systems have been a far greater challenge than damming rivers. The possibilities have lured a number of developers
to the oceans with various turbine, control and installation machinery,
including Oscilla Power, Inc., M3 Wave, LLC and OpenHydro, Inc.
Oscilla Power, Inc. is currently among a group of nine contestants vying for $2 million in
Department of Energy money to develop wave power technology. Oscilla’s wave energy converter technology
has put the company in second place in the first round of tests. The contest entrants are being judged against
what is called an ACE test, a cost-benefit-ratio comparing efficiency in
extracting energy from waves against the device cost. The DOE has set a hurdle of 1.5 meters per
million dollars of cost. The contest
finals will be staged in a U.S. Navy simulated wave installation later in 2016.
Fourteen patents
protect Oscilla’s wave energy converter technology. Another forty patent applications are pending. The company is attempting commercialization
of its wave energy knowhow in its Triton Wave Energy Converter or Triton
WEC. Each system is expected to deliver
600 kilowatts. A group of the Triton
WECs can be tethered together to the ocean floor to generate grid scale
electricity. The Triton system is
uniquely capable of capturing energy from four different wave motions: heave, pitch, sway and roll. The low displacement drive train converts mechanical
energy into electricity at an average efficiency of 75% or greater.
M3 Wave is also in
competition for the DOE’s $2 million prize money. The company has entirely different approach
to capturing energy from waves. The
enclosed system sits on the ocean floor with no moving parts exposed to the
corrosive sea water. Two chambers in the
system are filled with air. As waves
pass over the chambers air is forced from one chamber to the other forcing a
turbine to spin. M3 Wave engineers think
their unique design will be particularly good for remote location deployment
such as military bases or disaster response.
France’s naval
shipbuilding, DCNS Group, is the parent of OpenHydro, Inc. DCNS is leveraging its deep expertise in
the marine environment to renewable energy development. Appropriate, OpenHydro calls its tidal power
system the Open Center Turbine. It is
secured to the ocean floor, where the tidal action passes through the turbine
openings. It is a fairly simple design,
which OpenHydro believes makes it cost effective to build, install and
maintain. In January 2016, OpenHydro began
installation of two of its tidal turbines at Electricite de France’s
Paimpol-Brenhat project near Paimpol, France.
Each turbine is rated 2 megawatts.
The project is expected to be connected to EDF’s grid by the summer
2016.
It seems each of
these three companies has brought excellent innovation to the world’s energy
market. Only time will tell if these
technologies and systems will withstand the harsh ocean environment not to mention the
rigorous tests of commercialization. In
the meantime, it is worthwhile for investors to watch how these companies
progress. With success they could either
be candidates for initial public offerings or for acquisition by larger, public
companies with an interest in capturing a share of the hydrokinetic energy equipment
market.
Next and final post in this series is already a public
company and offers a pure play in tidal energy.
Neither the author of the Small Cap Strategist web
log, Crystal Equity Research nor its affiliates have a beneficial interest in
the companies mentioned herein. OpenHydro, M3 Power and Oscilla Power are included in the Ocean Group of Crystal Equity Research's Electric Earth Index.
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