Dr Graham Foster and Dr Gareth Stockman
Nominated for Innovation and Technology award
Marine Power Systems Ltd, based in Swansea, has been chosen as a Finalist for the St David Award for Innovation and Technology
Marine Power Systems Ltd. was co-founded by Swansea University graduates Dr Gareth Stockman and Dr Graham Foster in 2009 specifically to develop the WaveSub wave energy converter – a second generation device with many advantages that address the challenges of extracting wave energy.
WaveSub is said to solve the 4 main challenges involved in harnessing wave energy. These are: developing efficient energy capture in any sea conditions; securing the technology's long-term survivability in a harsh environment; ensuring the devices are easy to deploy, recover and service; and guaranteeing they are cost efficient to build in relation to the power they produce.
The WaveSub has undergone scaled sea trials and tank testing, and recently a detailed project to model the cost of energy was completed. The conclusion was that the WaveSub has the potential to compete favourably with other renewable technologies and ultimately be competitive with conventional energy generation.