Techno-Economic Assessment of AWS Waveswing

Background: The Wave Swing (www.awsocean.com), developed by AWS Ocean Energy, is a submerged pressure differential WEC device that has completed sea trials at EMEC in Scotland. The Waveswing is a highly efficient WEC topology that has won third place (out of 92 design teams) in the wave energy prize competition organized by the US Department of Energy and has since undergone significant further development culminating in the recent at-sea testing at EMEC.
The installation and testing at EMEC have shown that single-unit point absorbers are inherently expensive to build, deploy, and operate. They have also highlighted key operational issues that limit access to the device during extended periods during winter months. These critical issues are being addressed through the next evolution of AWS technology towards its multi-absorber platform.
The current work was motivated by the need to review and benchmark the technology?s commercialization pathway and provide an understanding of key cost-reduction drivers.

Objectives: The primary objectives of the current scope of work are to benchmark the LCoE of the Waveswing device, identify cost-reduction pathways through design sensitivity studies, and compare the results against an actively tuned point absorber that employs a hydrostatic spring-compensation mechanism. This reference WEC benchmark is herein referred to as the Reference Point Absorber (RPA).

Work Carried Out: Re Vision started with a detailed review of the AWS R&D program to enable detailed implementation planning efforts. Subsequently, Re Vision engaged in a structured assessment process including the following:
- LCoE model to benchmark the current AWS configuration and the RPA at a 100MW plant scale
- A parametric performance model to model WEC performance for the Waveswing and the RPA
- Development of scalable performance and cost models
- Sensitivity studies to enable first-order design optimization
- Identify core LCoE cost-reduction pathways to enable the targeting of sensible technology development pathways

The submitted information includes the final report and the supporting datasets in excel format.