Innovative software could help maximise growth of the wave energy industry

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Wave Venture is a specialist wave energy consultancy and software provider. The company is focused on merging engineering and economic analysis methods and on applying these to deliver wave energy technology related services with a commercial focus. The Wave Venture Marine-i project is focused on validating the dynamic simulation component of the Wave Venture software.

Their MD, Ronan Costello, explains: “There is a wide range of customers who can benefit greatly from our services. These include businesses investing in wave energy technology , organisations conducting research and development on wave energy conversion systems, and companies planning the deployment of wave energy farms.

“Wave Venture has been involved in wave energy projects in the USA, Scotland and Ireland. With wave energy being such a new industry, very few companies can match our expertise in providing accurate assessments of the commercial viability of proposed technologies.”

Wave Venture are now developing an innovative Techno Economic analysis product called "Wave Venture TE". This software is a hybrid desktop-cloud integrated engineering and financial analysis package.

Wave Venture have been developing components of this integrated Wave Venture TE software for several years. They aim to have an integrated product ready to launch soon that will significantly impact the wave energy industry. The software will allow for Wave Energy Converter (WEC) developers to rapidly and accurately analyse their devices. This software brings the additional benefit of optimisation that includes all stages of a commercial wave farm development.

Ronan says: “The key elements of Wave Venture TE are currently being used by our team, who are all very proficient in the correct application of the software. However, there is a big difference between an ‘in-house’ system and one that can achieve success in the broader market.

“There are therefore a number of key milestones that we need to reach before we are ready to take the product to full commercial launch. These include running the software on multiple example applications, verifying the accuracy of the software on these example applications, and ensuring that all the documentation needed for the development of user manuals and training materials is in place.

“Receiving a Grant from Marine-i has given a huge boost to the project. It will help us to validate the dynamic simulation component of the software by comparing these with published results”. Professor Lars Johanning, who leads the Marine-i team, says: “We felt that it was important to support this pioneering project. Not only could it put Cornwall at the forefront of a new field of commercial analytics, but it could also help stimulate growth in the wider wave energy industry, by giving investors and WEC developers the accurate information they need to formulate optimum commercial strategies.”