Exchange and Assessment of Ocean Energy Device Project Information and Experience (Annex V)

Project Duration 2012 - 2015	Operating Agent Robert Thresher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory on behalf of the Department of Energy (DOE), U.S.
Participating countries All countries	Further information www.ocean-energy-systems.org

OBJECTIVES
The mission of Annex V - The Exchange and Assessment of Ocean Energy Device Project Information and Experience - is to accelerate ocean energy device project development by promoting the sharing, interchange, evaluation, and compilation of information from participating member countries.

To this end, Annex V is sponsoring a series of workshops, bringing international experts together to contribute and exchange data that can be used to develop an assessment of the fundamental knowledge of ocean energy. Two workshops have been held; the first was on the site development and operations for open water testing and the second was on computational modeling and analysis of marine energy converters, with two additional workshops being planned.

ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Since 2012, Annex V has conducted two exchange workshops, in which participating members presented, collected, and reviewed project information, experience, and data. Annex V has facilitated the presentation of projects from participating member countries in the areas of open ocean testing methods and test center operation as well as the verification and validation of computational modeling methods.

WORKSHOP I: OPEN WATER TESTING
Dublin, Ireland, October 2012
The open water testing workshop brought together test site operators and wave device developers to exchange information and experience on all aspects of planning, development, operation, and usage of open-water test facilities to identify possible improvements in the capabilities of these facilities for the mutual benefit of the entire ocean energy industry. Workshop participants included 36 representatives from 12 different countries. The participants gave 16 presentations about open-water test facilities.

During workshop discussion sessions, a central theme emerged that focused on defining a business model for test centers in order for them to most effectively accelerate the development and commercialization of the industry. A second issue that emerged during the workshop was the clear preference of device developers to perform research and development (R&D) testing in open waters at or near full scale to validate stepwise device improvements and environmental effects over extended periods of time. A third issue that emerged was whether the test centers should provide some type of certificate attesting to the type and duration of testing that was accomplished during the open-water deployment of a device.

WORKSHOP II: COMPUTATIONAL MODELING AND ANALYSIS
Edinburgh, Scotland, November 2013
There are numerous worldwide organizations and individuals developing and applying computational analysis methods to analyze the performance and dynamic loading of wave, tidal, and ocean current devices. The goal of Workshop II was to bring together these expert analysts to exchange information and experience on all aspects of developing, using, verifying and validating these computational modeling tools to improve these capabilities for the mutual benefit of the global ocean energy industry.

Fifty participants from 12 different countries attended the two-day workshop. Twenty-seven presentations were given, 14 on the analysis and design of tidal and current converters, and 13 presentations on wave energy converter analysis and design. Workshop participants concluded that using computational benchmarking to rigorously validate wave and tidal codes for marine energy applications would be extremely useful for the global marine energy community. Workshop I and II reports are available online: http://www.ocean-energy-systems.org/about-oes/work-programme/annex-v-project-information/
In response to the conclusion of this workshop, which stated the need for rigorous validation of wave and tidal computational codes, several Annex V participants held a planning meeting to develop and draft a new annex to undertake this validation assessment. As a result, the OES Executive Committee at its last meeting commissioned Annex VI – Ocean Energy Modeling Verification and Validation, to begin work in 2015.

 

FUTURE WORKSHOPS
During 2015, Annex V is planning to hold two workshops:

• The first workshop will focus on reliability of marine energy devices. As technology is developed in the ocean energy sector, an essential and necessary consideration for the design and cost-effective commercial operation of this technology is the reliability of the devices to operate for extended periods of time under harsh marine conditions. Reliability of the devices must be considered early in the design phase in order to significantly impact both the initial capital cost and the operation and maintenance costs for a long life. This workshop will share information and knowledge on device analysis and design methods for assuring survivability, structural integrity, and fully operational power generation between scheduled maintenance events, as well as the needed support mechanisms to develop the envisioned high reliability technology. The workshop will be hosted by WavEC Offshore Renewables in Lisbon, Portugal, and will be held at the WavEC premises on February 5th and 6th, 2015.
   
• The second planned workshop will focus on analysis of cost of energy for ocean energy systems. The assessment of the levelized cost of energy (LCOE) for ocean energy devices represents a critical element of understanding the path to commercialization of ocean energy. While the cost of existing prototype devices is high, there are significant opportunities for reduction in LCOE. This workshop will invite presentations that explore the factors contributing to energy capture and the cost of today’s devices, as well as associated project costs contributing to the overall LCOE. In addition, the workshop will be open to presentations exploring how this LCOE might be reduced in the future through technology innovation, learning by doing, material and manufacturing advancements, and other means. This workshop is tentatively planned to be held in the fall of 2015 and the host will be the University of Edinburgh.