Our Technology
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InfinityWEC is a novel point absorbing Wave Energy Converter (WEC). It is both highly efficient in capturing energy through its ability to adjust to the sea state, and robust enough to operate reliably and survive the harshest marine conditions. Cost efficiency is achieved by its modular design and the easy handling, allowing for road transportation and requiring a minimum of offshore operations.
The system is installable with a minimum of complicated offshore operations and no diving or heavy lifting are necessary offshore. An anchor cage is lowered to the seabed with a crane and filled with 500 ton high density ballast from an installation vessel. The buoy and PTO are towed separately to the installation site. The PTO is connected to the anchor and then to the buoy by pulling the mooring rope from the PTO through the center of the buoy.
The InfinityWEC technology and design is patent protected and developed by Ocean Harvesting Technologies AB in collaboration with experienced partners.
Only Proven Subsystems
Instant Force Control Capability
Passive Survival Function
Ocean Harvesting is developing a novel concrete hull for the prime mover (buoy) of the InfinityWEC wave energy converter, using high strength concrete, with low environmental footprint and excellent durability. The solution allows for large scale production and results in a buoy with similar weight to a conventional steel hull, but at a quarter of the cost, a third of the CO2 footprint and one tenth of the manufacturing time.
Highly flowable concrete is poured into a mould with void fillers, forming the concrete shell and the internal honeycomb structure, one of the strongest structures in nature. Most of the raw materials will be sourced locally at the installation site, where the buoy is cast in a process common in civil engineering. The buoy will be towed or shipped to the installation site and linked to the InfinityWEC PTO system with a mooring rope, which enables quick and diverless attachment and detachment of the buoy from the PTO system during installation and maintenance operations.
The RISE (Research Institutes of Sweden) department for Infrastructure and Concrete Technology has developed a unique high-performance concrete mix for the buoy, as part of the joint industry project WECHull. To facilitate a thin-walled, lightweight structure and easy, rapid manufacturing, alternative reinforcement measures were investigated, evaluating the use of fibres of different types (carbon, aramid, glass, steel and biomass), as well as polymer reinforcement with carbon-textile grids. By using recycled aggregates and replacing more than 50% of the cement content, InfinityWEC’s buoy is aligned with the European Circular Economy Action Plan.
Advanced reactive force control on the buoy is provided throughout the full wave motion, which greatly amplifies the energy output and minimizes cost by limiting loads.
Direct drive ball screw actuators in combination with a hydraulic pre-tension spring system provide highly efficient PTO force control capability at a low cost.
InfinityWEC does not have a survival mode where power production is shut down in strong sea states, instead it uses a passive survival strategy allowing power to be produced in every wave.
A novel two-stage end stop cushion system holds the buoy submerged through the crest of large waves.
Solving the challenges of wave energy
Our technology has the potential for cost effective electricity generation to main power grids, as well as to off-grid applications.
We follow the staged development method set out by the international marine energy community
OHT is since 2017 developing the novel InfinityWEC wave energy converter with advanced force control and with AI capabilities. We have an extensive know-how in the wave power application and patent protection covering all aspects of the InfinityWEC system. To mature the concept we have developed tools to accurately assess dependencies between design and the overall life cycle cost of the system. We believe in using numerical models to time and cost efficiently simulate the behavior, loads and performance of the system, and to verify them with limited and controllable physical tests. This ensures we are on track to a commercially viable system before we move into large scale prototypes and testing.
We are currently preparing for sea trials of a fully operational InfinityWEC in scale 1:3 on the west cost of Sweden.
In 2025 we plan start the sea trial project of a full-scale 500 kW InfinityWEC, after which our system is validated and certified, followed by our first commercial installations.