Signature Projects are intended to bring focus to a selection of U.S. Department of Energy's Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) projects. By designating a Signature Project, the project reports, datasets, and associated papers can be easily discoverable. By bringing together all aspects of a project, whether a completed legacy project or an ongoing investigation, the MRE community can be informed of what investigations have been undertaken, which have succeeded, what tools are available, and where gaps in information persist.

Wave Energy Prize

Project Purpose

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Wave Energy Prize aimed to double the state-of-the-art performance of wave energy converters (WECs), increase the diversity of organizations involved in WEC technology development, and enable top performers to become viable and competitive industry members.

Project Description

The Wave Energy Prize was an 18-month public design-build-test competition sponsored by the U.S. DOE Water Power Technologies Office Marine and Hydrokinetic Program. The Prize included three phases and four technology gates that progressively evaluated each team's technology and culminated in a test at the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Maneuvering and Seakeeping (MASK) Basin. 

In addition to spurring WEC performance enhancements, the Wave Energy Prize aimed to provide an opportunity for apples-to-apples WEC testing and evaluation. However, levelized cost of energy (LCOE) metrics are challenging to equitably apply to new technologies, so the Prize team selected "Average Climate Capture Width per Characteristic Capital Expenditure", referred to as the ACE metric, as a proxy for LCOE. ACE is determined by dividing, in essence, the wave energy extraction efficiency of a WEC by its structural cost. Thus, the Prize specifically sought to double the 2014 state-of-the-art performance of innovative, deepwater WECs, from 1.5m/$M to 3.0m/$M. 

For additional details, view the Wave Energy Prize Rules. 

Project Methods

Beginning in April 2015, 92 teams registered for the Wave Energy Prize. 

In Prize Phase 1: Design, 66 of those registered teams submitted a Technical Submission describing their WEC concepts. Using the Technology Performance Level (TPL) assessment methodology, the Technical Expert Judging Panel then evaluated the WEC concepts and selected 20 semi-finalists to proceed to Prize Phase 2.

In Prize Phase 2: Build, each semi-finalist team designed, built, and instrumented a 1/50th scale model of their WEC concept; conducted small scale testing at participating test facilities; delivered full scale numerical modeling results; and submitted a 1/20th Scale Model Design and Construction Plan. The Technical Expert Judging Panel assessed the plans, compared simulated predictions to the 1/50th test results to validate performance, evaluated the likelihood of the proposed WEC concepts satisfying the required threshold value for ACE during the 1/20th scale testing, and ultimately identified nine finalists (see below).

In Prize Phase 3: Test and Evaluate, each finalist team received up to $125,000 in seed funding to build a 1/20th scale prototype of their WEC concept. With the support of the U.S. Navy, the finalist teams then tested their prototype devices at the Naval Surface Warfare Center's MASK Basin in Carderock, Maryland.

In November 2016, DOE announced AquaHarmonics as the winner of the Wave Energy Prize, which came with a $1.5 million grand prize. CalWave Power Technologies and Waveswing America were awarded second and third place, respectively, with $500,000 and $250,000 in cash prizes.

Key Findings/Applications

The Wave Energy Prize proved to be a significant advancement for wave energy technology. Four teams surpassed that competition's goal of doubling state-of-the-art performance. AquaHarmonics' five-fold technology improvement showed how rapid innovation can be achieved in a public prize challenge. The competition achieved game-changing performance enhancements to WEC devices and established pathways to sweeping cost reductions on a commercial scale.

Additional Resources

This table lists documents associated with the Wave Energy Prize project, including reports written by the project team and/or papers that have used the project outputs or are closely associated with them. To find additional project outputs, including related papers, datasets, and codes, explore the Wave Energy Prize page on PRIMRE.

Associated Marine Energy Engineering Documents

Total results: 22
Title Author Date Type of Content Technology Collection Method Engineering
A competition for WEC control systems Ringwood, J., Ferri, F., Ruehl, K. Conference Paper Wave, Point Absorber Lab Data, Modeling, Scale Device Control, Performance
Achieving a Three-Fold Increase in Performance for the Archimedes Waveswing Wave Energy Converter Grey, S., Spinneken, J. Conference Paper Wave, Point Absorber Lab Data, Scale Device Control, Performance
Analysis on the Influence of an Energy Storage System and its Impact to the Grid for a Wave Energy Converter Stefek, J., Bain, D., Yu, Y. Conference Paper Wave Modeling Grid Integration, Power Take Off
Characterization and verification of a two-body wave energy converter with a novel power take-off Li, X., Martin, D., Liang, C. Journal Article Wave Lab Data, Modeling Power Take Off
Compilation of Development Metrics Applicable to Wave Energy Converters (WECs): Current Status and Proposed Next Steps Rodrigues, J., Langhele, N., Rølvåg, T. Conference Paper Wave Modeling Performance
Cost investigation of battery-supercapacitor hybrid energy storage system for grid-connected hourly dispatching wave energy converter power Roy, P., Karayaka, H., He, J. Journal Article Wave Modeling Grid Integration, Hybrid Devices
Evaluation of performance metrics for the Wave Energy Prize converters tested at 1/20th scale Dallman, A., Jenne, D., Neary, V. Journal Article Wave Lab Data, Scale Device Performance, Structural
HAPiGYM: Two Rapid Prototyping Environments for Wave Energy Control Price, A., Campos-Gaona, D., Davey, T. Conference Paper Wave Lab Data, Modeling Control, Structural
Irregular Wave Energy Extraction Analysis for a Rack and Pinion Based Power Take-off System Amin, M., Karayaka, H., Yanik, P. Conference Paper Wave, Point Absorber Modeling Control, Performance, Power Take Off
Methodology to Calculate the ACE and HPQ Metrics Used in the Wave Energy Prize Driscoll, F., Weber, J., Jenne, S. Report Wave
Numerical Analysis and Validation of a Pressure-Differential Wave Energy Converter Wendt, F., Yu, Y., Babarit, A. Conference Paper Wave Modeling Performance
Numerical analysis and wave tank validation on the optimal design of a two-body wave energy converter Martin, D., Li, X., Chen, C. Journal Article Wave, Point Absorber Lab Data, Modeling, Scale Device Performance, Power Take Off, Structural
Numerical Model Development of a Variable-Geometry Attenuator Wave Energy Converter Pardonner, D., Tom, N., Guo, Y. Conference Paper Wave, Attenuator Modeling Performance
Numerical Modeling and Dynamic Analysis of a Wave-Powered Reverse-Osmosis System Yu, Y., Jenne, D. Journal Article Wave, Oscillating Wave Surge Converter Modeling Performance
Performance Modeling of a Variable-Geometry Oscillating Surge Wave Energy Converter on a Raised Foundation Burge, C., Tom, N., Thiagarajan, K. Conference Paper Wave, Oscillating Wave Surge Converter Modeling Performance, Structural, Substructure
Review of Wave Energy Converter Power Take-Off Systems, Testing Practices, and Evaluation Metrics Tom, N. Conference Paper Wave Control, Power Take Off, Structural
Techno-Economic Related Metrics for a Wave Energy Converters Feasibility Assessment de Andres, A., Maillet, J., Todalshaug, J. Journal Article Wave Array Effects
Wave Energy Prize Experimental Sea State Selection Bull, D., Dallman, A. Conference Paper Wave Field Data
Wave Energy Prize Final Presentation LaBonte, A. Presentation Wave Scale Device Hydrodynamics, Performance, Structural
Wave Energy Prize Rules US Department of Energy (DOE) Report Wave
Wave Energy Prize Testing and Data Analysis Driscoll, F., Newborn, D., Quintero, M. Conference Paper Wave Lab Data, Scale Device Hydrodynamics, Performance, Structural
WEC Array Networked Microgrid Control Design and Energy Storage System Requirements Weaver, W., Hagmuller, A., Ginsburg, M. Conference Paper Wave Scale Device Grid Integration
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 results