Innovative wave energy project receives green light from European Union

A step change for wave energy
Render of WEDUSEA OceanEnergy OE-35 wave energy device, due to launch in summer 2025
The University of Plymouth is a key partner in a €19.6 million project which aims to be the stepping stone towards large scale wave energy commercialisation.
WEDUSEA (Wave Energy Demonstration at Utility Scale to Enable Arrays) has now received formal go-ahead from the European Union.
The pioneering collaboration between 14 partners spans industry and academia from across the UK, Ireland, France, Germany and Spain. It is co-ordinated by the Irish company OceanEnergy and co-funded by the EU Horizon Europe Programme and by Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency.
Professor Lars Johanning, chair in Ocean Technology and Associate Head of School (Research) at the University of Plymouth’s Faculty of Science and Engineering says:
"The WEDUSEA partnership has worked hard to ensure that all detailed designs and planning are robust, to prove that the project is viable and that the project will be delivered within budget. Now we have received the green light from the EU, it’s all systems go!"
In common with all other Horizon Europe projects, WEDUSEA has undergone a comprehensive independent review by EU-appointed external experts, following its initial project design period, to ensure the technical designs and all plans, budgets and protocols are fully in place and approved.
The WEDUSEA project will demonstrate a grid connected 1MW OE35 floating wave energy converter at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) wave energy test site at Billia Croo in Orkney, Scotland. A rigorous technical and environmental demonstration will happen over a two-year period in Atlantic wave conditions.
Developed by OceanEnergy the OE35 is the world’s largest capacity floating wave energy device. Floating on the ocean’s surface, the device incorporates a trapped air volume, with the lower part open to the sea. Wave pressures at the submerged opening cause the water to oscillate and drive the trapped air through a turbine to generate electricity. Electricity generated will be exported to the UK grid via EMEC’s subsea cables. 
OceanEnergy OE-35 wave energy device in Hawaii
OceanEnergy OE-35 wave energy device in Hawaii, a sister project at the US Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site, launched in July 2024

Wave energy is the world’s most valuable renewable resource with around 30TWh of potential annual production waiting to be harnessed. That’s almost 10 times Europe’s annual electricity consumption.

However, this potential has yet to be fully realised. The project will demonstrate that wave technology is on a cost reduction trajectory and will thus be a stepping stone to larger commercial array scale-up and further industrialisation. We predict that the natural energy of the world’s oceans will one day supply much of the grid.
Professor Tony Lewis
Chief Technical Officer at OceanEnergy
The WEDUSEA project has three phases. The first phase is the initial design and build of a device suited to the ocean conditions at EMEC’s Billia Croo wave energy test site. This will be followed by the demonstration at the site, lasting two years. The final phase will be commercialisation and dissemination which sees the capitalisation and exploitation of the results. 
Matthijs Soede from the European Commission said at the start of the project: 
“WEDUSEA is set to be a major catalyst for the wave energy industry, unlocking the full potential of this exciting renewable technology."
The wave converter build starts in the second half of 2024 and the demonstration at EMEC is expected to begin in June 2025.

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In response to climate change imperatives, we are bringing together a critical mass of leading research and expertise from across the University of Plymouth. Through co-creation and collaboration with partners from business, government and key communities from across the globe, the Centre aims to be a beacon for the University’s whole-system transdisciplinary approach to solutions-oriented research, accelerating sustainable developments in decarbonisation and renewable energy.
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