| Investment


government remains committed to delivering tidal range and ensuring this vital technology delivers secure, renewable power, as well as jobs and investment for Wales and the UK. The technology has already been proven at scale and this research will help provide the evidence that will unlock the first wave of tidal range projects, here in Wales.”


Expanding in the US Eco Wave Power Global has recently announced the


opening of its US subsidiary, Eco Wave Power US, reflecting the company’s commitment to expanding its footprint and impact in the US. The company says its wave energy technology has the potential to provide a reliable source of renewable energy to millions of people across the country’s 95,000+ miles of coastline, while also contributing to the fight against climate change. According to the US Energy Information Association, wave energy can supply up to 66% of all the US’’ energy needs. Thus, Eco Wave Power US could help in fulfilling this potential. The company signed an agreement with AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, one of the nation’s leading hubs for the blue economy, to bring its innovative wave energy technology to the AltaSea campus. In just over a year, Eco Wave Power has successfully modified, upgraded, and transported the conversion unit to Los Angeles and will soon begin installation on the pilot project. In March 2022, New Jersey Assemblyman Robert


Karabinchak introduced legislation requiring the state to add wave energy to its master energy plan and provide funding for feasibility studies and pilot programs. Similarly, California’s State Senator Steven Padilla introduced a bill aimed at promoting and facilitating wave energy development to achieve California’s clean energy targets. Both bills are making progress through various committees, and a vote on New Jersey’s wave energy legislation is expected soon. Eco Wave Power has a 404.7MW project pipeline, with plans to build power stations in Spain, Turkey, Portugal, the US, and other countries globally.


In August 2022, US President Joe Biden signed


into law the Inflation Reduction Act, which allocates $128 billion towards renewable energy and grid energy storage, the largest piece of federal legislation ever that addresses climate change. The timing was opportune for Eco Wave Power, which had announced plans to commercialize and implement its technology in Europe and the US earlier in the year. The legislation’s investment in clean energy provides a significant boost to Eco Wave Power’s plans to commercialize further in the US.


Funding for development Maynooth University Centre for Ocean Energy


Research received €500,000 under the US-Ireland Research Program, a tripartite partnership between the US, Republic of Ireland (RoI), and Northern Ireland (NI). The award was for a project that aims to address a key technological roadblock to the mainstreaming of wave energy. The project, Control Co-Design for Ocean Wave


Energy Conversion, brings together partners from Maynooth University, Queen’s University Belfast, Northern Ireland and Virginia Polytechnic Institute


and State University in the US who will jointly research wave energy converters (WECs) and help to make them more commercially attractive. Along the long coastlines of the US, Ireland, and the UK, there is vast but untapped marine hydrokinetic energy, especially from ocean waves. According to a 2021 study by the US Department of Energy, the ‘technically recoverable’ potential of wave energy is 1400TWh each year. If only 5% of that potential was recovered, 65 million homes could be powered by wave energy. The award is one of 12 projects funded under the €21 million joint investment announced under the US-Ireland Research & Development Programme. It marks the highest number of annual awards ever made through the programme, which came about as a result of the Good Friday Agreement. and this year spans 27 research institutions, supports more than 35 research positions in the Republic of Ireland, and over 25 research positions in Northern Ireland, for three to five years. The funded projects include research in the areas of energy storage and conversion, wearable health diagnostics, 5G/6G communications and quantum networks. Professor Philip Nolan, Director General of Science Foundation Ireland, welcomed the announcement, stating: “The growth of the US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme since its inception, highlights the significant value of our international collaborations. I am particularly pleased to see the evolution of a number of the groups that have now won multiple US-Ireland awards. I am delighted to congratulate the award recipients and their collaborators on their work which spans both fundamental and applied research and has the potential to greatly benefit our collective societies and economies.” The Programme is supported by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and the Health Research Board (HRB) in the Republic of Ireland; the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the USA; and the Department for the Economy (DfE) and the Health & Social Care R&D Division in Northern Ireland. Director of the US National Science Foundation, Dr Sethuraman Panchanathan, said: “The US-Ireland R&D Partnership program plays an important role in pushing the boundaries of frontier research beyond any borders. This unique research partnership model aims to generate, at speed and scale, valuable discoveries and innovations which are transferable to the marketplace or will lead to enhancements in health, climate resilience and telecommunications to improve our world. I congratulate the awardees and look forward to seeing how their outcomes contribute to successfully addressing global challenges.” Mark Lee, Interim Director of Higher Education in the Department for the Economy, Northern Ireland, added: “International research partnerships have a key role to play in driving forward Northern Ireland’s vision for a ‘10x Economy’ to deliver economic prosperity and a better quality of life for all our people. The US-Ireland R&D Partnership, as a flagship trans-Atlantic initiative, is playing a crucial role in the delivery of this vision, supporting Northern Ireland-based researchers to make a global impact through the development of new and ground-breaking technologies that can benefit all right across society.”


References


www.irena.org/Publications/2023/ Mar/Scaling-up-investments-in- ocean-energy-technologies.


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