Wave energy breakthrough: InfinityWEC cuts costs by 85%
The Swedish company Ocean Harvesting has developed a system called InfinityWEC to generate energy from ocean waves. According to the company, implementing this system is seven times less expensive than constructing offshore wind farms.
Experts are currently focusing on finding new, more ecological and economical energy sources. Wave energy, despite its potential, remains relatively underutilised. The InfinityWEC system, developed by Ocean Harvesting, demonstrates that this solution can be significantly cheaper than wind energy obtained from floating structures.
How does wave energy production work?
InfinityWEC generates electricity using buoys and can operate at depths of approximately 80 to 200 metres. Offshore wind farms using floating platforms also operate in these conditions. As reported by cision.com, this project is characterised by a very low level of CAPEX, or capital expenditures.
Available information indicates that CAPEX significantly influences the LCOE, or levelised energy cost, when evaluating new energy technologies. The LCOE takes into account both the initial expenses for constructing the power plant and the subsequent operational costs associated with its functioning.
Wave energy vs. wind energy
To assess Infinitywec's efficiency, a system with a capacity of 6 MW was constructed and compared to the Hywind Scotland floating wind farm, which has the same output. Both solutions can use similar infrastructure to transmit the generated energy.
According to data presented by Ocean Harvesting, InfinityWEC requires about seven times lower capital expenditures and generates approximately seven times less carbon footprint than the Hywind Scotland wind farm.
The company lists the InfinityWEC system's advantages, including its scalability and high efficiency, which confirm its ability to consistently produce energy from each wave. This technology is characterised by a low LCOE—with energy production at approximately 2 GWh, the cost is estimated at 100 euros/MWh with an installed capacity of 100 MW and less than 35 euros/MWh with an installed capacity of 5 GW.
