MONDAY’S STUDY: Ocean Energy Grows On

An Overview Of Ocean Energy Activities In 2019

March 2020 (Ocean Energy Systems)

Executive Summary

Introduction

The Technology Collaboration Programme (TCP) supports the work of independent, international groups of experts that enable governments and industries from around the world to lead programmes and projects on a wide range of energy technologies and related issues. The experts in these collaborations work to advance the research, development and commercialisation of energy technologies. The scope and strategy of each collaboration is in keeping with the IEA Shared Goals of energy security, environmental protection and economic growth, as well as engagement worldwide.

The Technology Collaboration Programme was created with a belief that the future of energy security and sustainability starts with global collaboration. The programme is made up of 6,000 experts across government, academia, and industry dedicated to advancing common research and the application of specific energy technologies.

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Ocean Energy Systems (OES) is the short name for the Technology Collaboration Programme on Ocean Energy Systems under the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The OES connects organisations and individuals working in the ocean energy sector to accelerate the viability, uptake and acceptance of ocean energy systems in an environmentally acceptable manner. The work of the OES covers all forms of energy generation in which sea water forms the motive power through its physical and chemical properties, i.e. wave, tidal range, tidal and ocean currents, ocean thermal energy conversion and salinity gradients.

This Annual Report presents an overview of progress made by the OES, including summaries of new, ongoing and recent projects, as well as updated country reviews prepared by the Delegates.

Interest and outreach for new membership within OES continued in 2019. The OES is always looking for new members across the globe, and key representatives from potential new member countries are encouraged to attend meetings as Observers.

The OES has 25 members, which provide a broad international base of information, sharing experience and knowledge and further a diversified representation of interests: members are from governmental departments, utilities, universities and research organizations, energy agencies and industry associations. This is one of the benefits of joining OES: participants gain an international perspective on ocean energy issues, opportunities and present challenges.

The OES international co-operation facilitates:

• Securing access to advanced R&D teams in the participating countries;

• Developing a harmonized set of measures and testing protocols for the testing of prototypes;

• Reducing national costs by collaborating internationally;

• Creating valuable international contacts between government, industry and science;

• Sharing information and networking.

This Executive Summary provides a brief summary of the OES Annual Report for the year 2019. It synthesizes the main achievements in the OES collaborative activities and presents relevant policies, R&D activities and deployments in the water by each OES member country.

OES has a close link with the International Conference on Ocean Energy (ICOE), held every two years, and leads a competitive process to select the host team for this conference. In 2019, the host for the 8th edition of ICOE was approved by the OES Executive Committee: ICOE 2020 is scheduled to take place on May 19-21 2020 at the Marriott Marquis Washington, D.C., hosted by the National Hydropower Association (NHA), a nonprofit North-American national association dedicated to promoting the growth of clean, affordable waterpower in all of its forms, ranging from conventional hydropower to pumped storage to marine energy.

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ES Key Achievements in 2019

The Technology Collaboration Programme was created with a belief that the future of energy security and sustainability starts with global collaboration. The programme is made up of 6,000 experts across government, academia, and industry dedicated to advancing common research and the application of specific energy technologies. ANNUAL REPORT 2019 The OES held two ExCo Meetings in 2019: The 36th and 37th meetings were convened in Riviera Maya, Mexico (26 – 27 March 2019), hosted by Cémie-Oceano, and in Dun Laoghaire, Dublin, Ireland (2 - 3 October), hosted by the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, and organised in the same week as the annual Ocean Energy Europe Conference and Exhibition, one of the most important events on Europe’s ocean energy calendar that took place in Dublin.

During 2019, the task on environmental issues has been renamed to OES-Environmental (OES-E). Fifteen nations participate in this task, led by the US Department of Energy (DOE) and implemented by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Over the year information has been collected from baseline data and monitoring efforts around deployed marine energy devices; Tethys1, the publicly accessible knowledge management system has been continuously updated with papers, reports, and other media on environmental effects of marine energy devices; there has been several actions towards outreach and engagement to the ocean energy community, with particular emphasis on researchers, regulators, and developers.

On the Cost of Energy for Ocean Energy Technology, a new study led by Tecnalia from Spain was concluded in 2019. This new study monitors the evolution of ocean energy costs and assesses the impact of different drivers on the LCOE, by taking into account historical trends, future developments and differences among technologies and countries. The findings of this study have been shared with the IEA for their modelling work in renewable energies.

OES has two tasks dedicated to the modelling verification and validation of ocean energy technologies, one led by Ramboll in Denmark, for wave energy, and a second one, for tidal energy, led by the Energy Research Institute at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. These groups have been engaging with a number of experts from universities, research institutions and companies and comparing results among different numerical codes.

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A group of member countries – Japan, India, China, France and The Netherlands – have been working together on OTEC to assess the potential around the world and discuss the present status and plans for OTEC projects. A workshop with the support of OES has been organised during the 7th International OTEC Symposium in Busan, Republic of Korea.

OES has been developing efforts on the topic of international performance evaluation of ocean energy technologies with strong inputs from the European Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy and from Wave Energy Scotland, aiming to support the definition of a fully defined set of metrics and success thresholds for wave energy technologies and develop an internationally accepted approach. A draft report discussing the benefits of common evaluation approaches in the ocean energy sector and the use of common language has been prepared to help build consensus. It details the evaluation process and how it changes throughout the technology development process.

In 2019, the ExCo commissioned a new study to assess the number of jobs related to the development of the ocean energy sector, coordinated by France Energies Marines. The assessment of the number of jobs related to the development of the ocean energy sector has reached utmost importance for decision makers. Some figures have been announced but an accurate assessment of existing jobs directly related to the sector needs specific attention. One difficulty to properly assess the number of jobs relies on the methodology applied. The proposed project thus aims to provide both a methodology and actual figures of job assessment with an indication of the robustness of the models used, their limitations and the quality of their outputs.

A third workshop on ocean energy in insular conditions, aiming to discuss barriers and opportunities, was organised at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA (2-3 May 2019) by the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (PLOCAN), with the support of OES.

OES also supported in 2019 a workshop on open-sea testing organized by the International WaTERS network at EMEC on Orkney Islands, Scotland, to exchange information and experience on all aspects of planning, development and operation of open-water test facilities. The International WaTERS network brings together operational and planned test sites from around the world to discuss common issues and agree actions for collaborating for the good of marine energy…

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Country Highlights in 2019…

Open Sea Test Sites

There are many open sea test sites established across the world and each has its own challenges, such as consenting issues, resource and operating environments. Test centres also provide very different service offerings to industry.

The development of open sea testing facilities encourages ocean energy development by enabling practical experience of installation, operation, maintenance and decommissioning activities for prototypes and farms, as well as on services and streamlining procedures…

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