November 11, 2007 - SyncWave and Marinus Power, of Houston, Texas, sign Memorandum of Understanding - link to Press Release
November 11, 2007 - SyncWave Energy Featured in the National Post - link to article
Spring, 2007 - SyncWave featured in BC Bearing magazine "BCB Communicator" Download article
March 17, 2007, Pemberton, BC: SyncWave Energy Inc. is Featured by the Knowledge Network on "The Leading Edge" -- Show Titled "Plugging Into the Pacific" link to media
NEW! See SyncWave in Google Earth... CLICK
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SyncWave Energy Inc. - Developing SyncWave™ Power Resonator ocean wave energy converter
SyncWave Energy Inc. (SEI) is focussed on bringing to market in 2010 its novel, low-cost, advanced concept for wave energy conversion based on frequency. To date, high costs, permitting issues, and unknowns around reliability, longevity, and power quality, have limiting wave energy adoption. In response, SyncWave has executed a combined technical and market strategy to break through barriers to adoption.
SEI’s overarching technical strategy has been to predictively identify, through careful study of the prior art and competition, the most likely technological “convergence” path of wave energy converters, then invent and build the most simple, capable platform that represents where this rapidly emerging sector is headed. SEI believes that deep water (offshore) slack-moored, self-reacting point absorbers represent the convergence class for bulk wave energy converters (much like blade-forward, horizontal axis, pole-mounted machines represent the convergence class for wind turbines.) Wasted device mass and structure, complex and inefficient hydraulic and pneumatic power take-offs, expensive under-sea works, and control systems that bleed energy and lack range, are all key areas that SyncWave Power Resonator (SyncWave) distinctively improves on.
SyncWave is a surface-penetrating, slack-moored, self-reacting, point-absorber system. It works by opportunistically orchestrating a productive mechanical response to slowly shifting wave impulse patterns. SyncWave is essentially comprised of two nested float structures joined through a power take-off and electrical generator. Each float effects a carefully designed hydrodynamic and inertial response to ocean swell, which ensures the floats bob up and down more or less in opposition in common wave conditions. As wave frequencies shift due to winds, currents, and storms, an internal control system continuously adjusts both the inertial response of the floats and the stiffness across the generator, maintaining productive “counter-oscillation” of the floats and maximizing power generation across the opportune band of wave frequencies. Three US patent applications with corresponding PCT registrations protecting these advances are in process. SyncWave is expected to have extremely low environmental impacts.
SyncWave’s design was developed and embodied to address the most significant cost issues identified by the UK’s Carbon Trust as limiting Wave Energy adoption. Compared to other devices on an estimated per kilowatt average productivity basis, SyncWave’s structure requires less steel, lower manufacturing tolerances, and a less specialized manufacturing facility. Other than under-sea transmission infrastructure (common to all ocean energy devices), SyncWave’s simple slack-mooring requires no significant undersea work, lowering installation and decommissioning costs. Planned and unplanned maintenance will be minimized by SyncWave’s utterly simple and serviceable design and its special maintenance mode whereby all expected field maintenance can be performed above the surface. Finally, with its revolutionary mechatronic SWELS control system, SyncWave will be able to produce electricity efficiently and continuously in almost all conditions, from calm seas to very strong storms. All key elements of SyncWave’s technology have been demonstrated in sophisticated computer simulations and as scale physical models in a wave tank. The next practical step is to test a SyncWave device in the ocean.
SEI’s overarching commercial strategy is to recognize that, while selling utility scale wave farms is the company’s ultimate goal, the best way to launch wave energy technology at this stage of the industry’s evolution is in smaller scale applications where critical needs create niche opportunities for SEI to gain early market traction, and where ongoing subsidies such as feed-in tariffs may not be necessary. Furthermore, permitting for such micro-scale wave energy projects is expected be less costly and faster than for large projects.
Ocean swells are a significantly more plentiful and reliable resource than wind. About half the global population lives within 200 km of a coast. In 2010, the Company’s market entry is targeted at retro-fitting the small-scale (micro) power grids of coastal self-generators (typically 20kW-2,000kW capacity) with SyncWave power as a renewable “hybrid adder” at penetrations of 15%-30%, specifically remote communities and commercial customers on tide-water that currently rely on diesel-powered generation.
The global off-grid diesel primary power market at sea and directly on the coasts (the addressable SyncWave “retrofit” segment) is estimated to be worth $16.7 billion in engine CAPEX annually. The fuel to serve those diesels is worth approximately $235 billion per year. The off-grid primary power diesel market is expanding by about 7% per year, and corresponding “Greenfield” installations (all new, or completely re-powering existing sites with “factory integrated” wave-diesel hybrid systems) are potentially worth a further $1.2 billion per year. The capacity of installed primary power coastal diesel generators will be in the order of 87 gigawatts by 2008. These will generate about 724 terawatt hours per year of energy, approximately equivalent to 5% of global electricity. SEI plans to expand sales into grid-connected power generation markets after 2010.
The SyncWave value proposition for launch customers is 25% life-cycle energy cost savings; reduced fuel price risks; reductions in noise and emissions; increased reliability and power quality, and; improved remote community electrification values. Off-grid diesel generation currently ranges from 30¢ to $2 per kWh, whereas SyncWave energy could potentially sell for less than 15¢ per kWh at commercial launch in off-grid applications, and less than 7¢/kWh at utility scale.