WavePiston

The concept has been developed since 2009, when the first patent was awarded.^[5] Since then it has been tested at increasing scales. In 2010, tank testing was performed at 1:30 scale in the wave basin at Aalborg University. This was followed by sea trials in Nissum Bredning at 1:9 scale and at Hanstholm at 1:2 scale.^[2] There were also plans to test a device at Isola Piana, on the south-west coast of Sardinia as part of the Wave to Energy and Water (W2EW) project.^[6]

Between 2015 and 2019, Wavepiston tested a half-scale device at the DanWEC site outside Hanstholm Harbour.^[3] In 2019, Wavepiston concluded two years of sea testing of a 120 m long string with four energy collector plates on it.^[7] Four variants of the energy collector plates were tested, each with an increasing area, from 4 m² to 8.5 m². These tests had a few incidents. In September 2015, a trawler deviated into the navigational restriction and collided with the device, severely damaging it. In May 2018, the wire rope broke due to fatigue, so it was then redesigned.^[8]

In 2024, Wavepiston is testing their first full-scale device, at the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias, PLOCAN). This device is 200 metres (660 ft) long, fitted with 24 energy collectors each 8 metres (26 ft) wide.^[4] This has a power of around 200 kW, enough to supply either electricity for around 140 households or to supply desalinated water for around 900 households (150,000 m³ per year).^[2]

The first energy collector was installed on 8 February,^[9] and the full system was installed by June.^[10] The energy collectors were manufactured by Thune Eureka in Pontevedra, Galicia, Spain.^[11]

In 2024, Wavepiston started collaborating with Danish offshore wind developer Ørsted to investigate the potential for co-location of wave energy within offshore wind farms in Denmark. The aim is to make better utilisation of the sea space devoted to offshore energy. It is expected that co-locating the wind and wave energy with shared infrastructure will reduce both costs and intermittency of the electricity generated.^[5]

In March 2024, Wavepiston also announced they were working with the government in Barbados to conduct a pre-feasibility study into constructing wave farms in Barbados.^[12]

It is expected that a scaled-up future commercial system with 70 strings, each with 32 collectors, would have a rated power of 15 MW. In 2021, Wavepiston had hoped to be selling these by 2023.^[2] However, by 2023 they expected to launch utility-scale projects by 2032.^[4]