CorPower Ocean Puts Finishing Touches to C4 Wave Energy Device Upgrades

Swedish wave energy company CorPower Ocean is nearing completion of planned on-land inspection and upgrades of its first commercial-scale wave energy device, C4, following its first deployment offshore Portugal. 

The upgrades being implemented for the C4 device are addressing key findings from operational data collected during the ocean deployment phase of its commercial-scale C4 device offshore Portugal in 2023.

In recent months engineers have performed careful inspections, adjustments and upgrades to finetune the system based on the data. Upgrades have been designed to address lessons learned, and systematically improve subsystems to increase operational range, power capacity and reliability.

It comes after post-deployment inspections provided numerous insights in areas including biofouling, corrosion, robustness and station keeping in storm conditions.

Electrical data collected during operation has further informed upgrades to increase the system’s peak power capacity from the confirmed 600 kW, towards 850 kW, by adding further capacitance to the DC-link of the electrical drivetrain and upgrading new inverters with higher voltage rating.

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In addition, sensor upgrades and calibrations have been applied to boost accuracy of measuring and predicting device motion in six degrees of freedom.

 Furthermore, the tidal regulator located under the C4 has been upgraded with a new grease system and improved seal / scraper solution to deliver long-term, reliable operation and protection from fouling, while upgrading drive electronics to allow equal speed of retraction and extension under load.

Moving forward, the C4 will be redeployed in Aguçadoura in northern Portugal, before engaging in a new operational phase to demonstrate full power capacity including further advancement in control methods.

When commissioning is complete, a Power Performance Assessment phase will begin in accordance with IEC/TS 62600-100 standards.

“Since the initial C4 deployment in August 2023, all key aspects of the C4 system functions have now been successfully verified including power export to grid, automated control and monitoring of the system as well as safe Operations and Maintenance (O&M) methods.

“We are nearing completion of this latest round of upgrades involving both mechanical components and software based on the first cycle of learnings made based on 2000h of data, in order to further increase power output and operational range when the device is redeployed in Aguçadoura,” said Jean-Michel Chauvet, CorPower Director of Integration & Testing.

The O&M cycle was carried out at CorPower Ocean’s dedicated on-land base in Viana do Castelo.