It has been a busy year at the Wave Energy Prize! On April 27, DOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Assistant Secretary Dr. Dave Danielson announced the opening of the prize, and an impressive 92 teams registered. Sixty-six of these teams submitted technical submissions for Technology Gate 1, which were reviewed by our judges over the summer. On August 14, we announced the 20 official Qualified Teams.

As 2015 draws to a close, the Wave Energy Prize is approaching Technology Gate 2, a key milestone for the program and for the Qualified Teams. Seven qualified teams have now completed small-scale testing, including Atlas Ocean Systems, Super Watt Wave Catcher Barge Team, Sea Potential, SEWEC, Team FLAPPER, IOwec and RTI Wave Power. Ten teams are scheduled to complete small-scale testing January 4 through 29, 2016: M3 Wave, Mocean Energy, Oscilla Power, Principle Power, AquaHarmonics, WECCA, CalWave, Float Inc. – BergerABAM, Advanced Ocean Energy @ VA Tech and WaveSwing America. The remaining three Qualified Teams, Atlantic Wave Power Partnership, Enorasy Labs and OceanEnergy USA, announced their withdrawal from the competition in November.

Additionally, Qualified Teams will submit the Model Design and Construction Plans for their 1/20th scale models by January 29. This plan, along with the results of small-scale testing, numerical modeling and revisions to their technical submissions, will be evaluated by the Wave Energy Prize judges at Technology Gate 2 to determine which teams will advance as official Finalist Teams. The Wave Energy Prize anticipates announcing the Finalist Teams and alternates at the beginning of March!

We have a lot to look forward to in 2016, including 1/20th scale model testing for our finalists at the Naval Surface Warfare Center’s Maneuvering and Seakeeping Basin at Carderock, Md., beginning this summer, and ultimately the announcement of winner(s) who have successfully demonstrated achievement of the Wave Energy Prize’s goal in November!

We wish the wave energy community a happy holiday season, and we’re looking forward to keeping you updated throughout 2016!