Shell and wave energy pioneer eye California springboard to global growth
Swedish-Israeli pioneer to leverage new California renewables law for feasibility of sites that could power 60% of Golden State’s power needs
Oil supermajor Shell has contracted Swedish-Israeli startup Eco Wave Power for comprehensive feasibility studies of locales primarily in California to identify “top locations for commercial onshore wave energy stations in the US and across the globe,” Eco Wave said.
“Wave energy can power communities with clean, reliable energy and be a strong force in combating climate change,” said Eco Wave CEO Inna Braverman.
“We are thrilled to help provide in depth analysis about wave energy to an industry leader that is exploring many avenues for clean energy,” she added.
Similar legislation is pending in the New Jersey legislature, and the Department of Energy (DoE)'s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found the US alone has the technical resource potential for wave energy to generate 1,400 TWh/year – enough to power 130 million homes.
Wave potential
NREL estimates California could generate 60% of its electricity needs through wave and tidal energy, which enjoy capacity factors of 90% or greater, much higher than most renewables.
Each of these technologies struggles with its own constraints and hurdles, though, such as floating wind's high costs and coastal infrastructure demands, while solar's temporal limits create huge grid reliability concerns in California once the sun sets.
This opens the door for greater deployment of wave energy systems.
Onshore benefits
The energy in waves could power nearly all of the world's electricity needs, the International Panel on Climate Change found, but technologies to capture that energy have proved elusive.
Most systems are deployed offshore, where waves are larger and more energy occurs, but which subjects the machines to the power of ocean storms, and Eco Wave notes many have been destroyed shortly after installation. Also, as waves offshore come from all directions, their energy is more difficult to harvest.
Eco Wave’s power stations are installed on existing onshore marine infrastructure including piers, breakwaters and jetties, employing specially designed floaters that fluctuate with regular motion of shoreside waves. The floaters push hydraulic pistons that rotate a generator and send clean electricity to the grid.
Shore-based generators also benefit from access to transmission infrastructure and ease of operations and maintenance.
Eco Wave has installed a power station in the Port of Jaffa in Israel in collaboration from French energy firm EDF that is already sending electricity to the grid.
The startup and Shell have also joined up on a pilot power station at the AltaSea research centre in the Port of Los Angeles slated for later this year and is set to begin construction on its first MW-scale power station in Portugal.
The company has a total pipeline of 405MW and its American Depositary Shares (WAVE) are traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market.
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