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Competitive Analysis: The Waveberg Advantage
The Waveberg was invented using a different set of criteria; John Berg found inspiration in seeing how the giant kelp off the California coast survived storms by not resisting the waves. The Waveberg is built to flow with the wave, to slither over it, presenting a minimum of surface to the forces of storms. Every aspect, from the mooring to the smooth fiberglass surface, is designed to reduce resistance to the waves, and therefore survivability during storms. The up-and-down resistance used to drive the pumps to harvest the energy can be released during a storm by opening a valve on shore and letting the water flow.
Giant kelp (Macrocystis pyrifera) forest, Santa Catalina Island, California – Photo: R. Cimberg
Careful design has reduced maintenance as well. There are no seals and no lubricated bearings or hinges. The pressurized seawater alone lubricates the pump. As soon as the pump arm puts weight on the pump chamber, the pressurized seawater is pushed into the space between the piston and the cylinder keeping them separated. Following 14 months of open ocean testing in Nova Scotia, the model Waveberg was disassembled and inspected. There was no discernable wear on the pump parts, even though the model used a soft PVC plastic, which is easily scratched. The seaweed and barnacles that will foul the Waveberg make it more efficient, by adding to the energy-generating mass. The hinges in the booms that connect the float arms and the pump body are made with large plastic pins, so that the forces are distributed over a large area, minimizing local pressure and wear. Even during normal operation in a relatively calm sea, many joints are underwater and stay wet.
The advantage of wave energy is that it is plentiful; there is many times more energy crashing on the shores of the world than is needed by civilization for the foreseeable future. The disadvantage of wave energy is that the sea is a difficult environment, turbulent, violent and corrosive. The Waveberg design will succeed because it overcomes these disadvantages with modesty and simplicity; it allows most of the wave to pass by unaffected.
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“The global wave power resource is in excess of 2 terawatts (2 million megawatts), with potential for generation of more than 2000 TWh (2 billion megawatt hours) annually”
— European Commission Energy Program Report
“The total power of waves breaking on the world's coastlines is estimated at 2 to 3 million megawatts. In favorable locations, wave energy density can average 65 megawatts per mile of coastline.”
— U.S. Department of Energy
