Innovative Wave Technology Supported by Mitacs Accelerate Program

Vancouver, BC, April 20, 2021 — Oceanergy Technologies Ltd., a startup in incubation at Empowered Startups, has secured significant funding through Mitacs to support increased R&D efforts at SFU’s electromechanics Lab. The two-year project will design and validate proof of concepts to build technology components for basic Wave Energy Conversion (WEC) technology subsystem devices. The project’s goal is to bring significant technical improvements to WEC devices such that they become desirable to the market by making tidal energy affordable and accessible.

Undiscovered Opportunity

Research shows that Wave Energy Conversion devices (WEC) have the lowest contribution levels to CO2 global emissions compared to other energy generation devices [1]. Together with wind turbines, WEC presents a future solution for minimizing CO2 emissions while also keeping up with the global ever-growing energy demand.

Research is currently being done worldwide to figure out how to harness the abundance of available energy generated naturally by water waves, however a significant lack of innovation in ways to efficiently harness wave/tidal technology still exists. This venture’s ultimate goal is to align the cost of harnessing tidal energy with current wind/solar Levelized Cost of energy (LCOE) and this will be accomplished by bringing to market significant technical improvements and innovations that will make tidal energy more easily harnessed.

In 2019, only 10MW of energy was produced from ocean energy compared to a total of 2.1TW which is consumed worldwide [1]. This showcases the untapped potential that remains in the tidal/wave energy market. Currently, the high cost of harnessing wave energy drives up the price of such energy, leading to very high costs which is the biggest obstacle currently facing tidal/wave energy usage. The current Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE) in tidal energy is around $0.25-$0.47/kWh, while wind energy and solar energy range from $0.04-$0.22/kWh to $0.06-$0.25/kWh respectively.

Mitac’s Support On Technology Development

The discussed Mitacs award has been granted to cover the direct costs of a feasibility Study of Wave Energy Conversion with Grid Connectivity. Dr. Mehrdad Moallem will oversee the project at Simon Fraser University, School of Mechatronic Systems Engineering, with two interns comprising the research team. Wave power is an untapped source of energy with great potential. Technological advances are needed to harness this enormous source of energy in the most efficient and economical manner. This project is a step  toward that goal,” says Dr Moallem.

About Oceanergy Technologies Ltd.

Oceanergy Technologies Ltd. is a startup enterprise that aims to advance the state of Wave Energy Conversion devices (WEC), which could be a significant contributor to delivering sustainable global energy to consumers. As stated by founder and CEO Dzung Hoang, “Our goal is to make contributions to bring DOWN greenhouse gas effects by developing economically competitive technology to harness the vast potential of wave/tidal energy.”

Contact Information

Oceanergy Technologies Ltd.
Dzung Hoang – CEO
Email:              [email protected]

Address:    420-744 West Hastings Street
Vancouver, BC, V6C 1A5, Canada

References

[1] V. Poenaru et al 2019 J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1297 012028, Journal of Physics, Conference series

Photo Credit

Daniel Torobekov Pexels