PowerPod II, a re-designed concept, is a major achievement for Trident Energy and its WaveDrive project.
The WaveDrive project is aimed at developing a generic power take-off (PTO) system for use in a broad range of wave energy converter (WEC) devices.
Earlier this year, Trident’s WaveDrive project received a funding of £0.5M from Wave Energy Scotland (WES) as a Stage 2 project in its PTO innovation call.
The re-designed concept, named PowerPod II, represents a major advance for Trident Energy and its WaveDrive project, which is aimed at developing a generic power take-off (PTO) system for use in a broad range of wave energy converter (WEC) devices.
Trident Energy CEO Steve Packard said: “42 Technology has undertaken a detailed design review of Trident’s existing PowerPod linear generator and has successfully optimised it for performance, robustness and manufacturability.
“The design improvements and project outcomes have exceeded expectations and the two companies are now progressing to detailed design of the new linear generator technology.”
The new PowerPod II concept, which is equivalent in size to its predecessor, produces 50% more electrical power on each stroke.
The concept is based on a single generic design that can be adapted for use in different types of wave energy converters and certain tidal energy devices.
It results in increasing manufacturing volumes, reducing costs and accelerating commercial deployment.
Besides, the enhanced design of PowerPod II enables full control using state power electronics.
