Technology developed by a Northern Ireland firm has shown it is among the best in the world of wave energy. Pure Marine, based at the NI Science Park, has been selected as one of only nine finalists for the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Wave Energy Prize competition.

The global competition is seeking to identify the emerging technology best placed to create a step change in the cost of energy generated from waves. After an initial assessment of 94 proposals, followed by the detailed assessment of 20 technologies, the DOE has selected the firms they believe have the most potential to cut the cost of generating electricity from wave power by half.

It will now contribute $125,000 to each of the final firms for the construction and testing of a larger scale device at the US Navy’s MASK test facility in Carderock, Maryland.

The selection process involved assessment of numerical modeling data followed by tank testing of 1/50th-scale models of the 20 devices taken through the initial assessment. The 1/50th-scale DUO device, designed and built by Pure Marine at the science park, was tested across the full-range of sea-states at the University of Iowa’s recently installed test facility.

The Pure Marine team will focus on delivering and successfully testing a larger 1/20th-scale device with the aim of capturing the $1.5M final prize. For more information click here.