AquaBuOY scale 1:10 - Energinet.dk

During the period 1992 – 1996 I was co-ordinator of the EU project OWEC-1, where both IPS andTechnocean was included as project partners along with most of the leading European wave energy experts.During this project I developed in co-operation with ES-Consult numerical models for the two Swedish waveenergy projects the IPS and the Hose-pump project, which had many similar features to the point absorberssystem developed by Danish Wave Power.Gunnar Fredrikson´s two sons Göran and Hans live in USA. Hans´s introduced his colleague Alla Weinsteinto his father to realise the wave energy project in USA. Alla Weinstein got via Gunnar Fredriksen contact withBengt-Olaf and started the company AquaEnergy in USA to develop the project together with her brotherYuiri.In 2001 Bengt Olaf Sjöström og Yuiry died in a plane crash, as their little airplane crashed while surveyingthe ocean area of Makaha Bay in the north westerly corner of USA, where they planned to build a waveenergy plant.In addition to the tragic personal losses also the project expertise was lost. Only the remains of the laptopfrom Bengt Olaf was found washed up on the beach some months later.Gunnar Fredriksen from IPS recommended Alla Weinstein to initiate a co-operation between AquaEnergyand Ramboll with the aim to reconstruct the numerical model of the AquaBuOY and further development.This cooperation and development started in 2002 and filled in a void for Ramboll regarding wave energy asthe Danish wave energy programme just had terminated due to change of government in 2001.The development has in the five-year period since 2002 evolved through different stages with private as wellas public financial support.oooooooooooAquaEnergyRambollAalborg UniversityDunlopBlack&VeatchEFP, DKCarbontrustSEIUCCEnerginet DKFinevera RenewablesAs a result of AquaEnergy´s search for private investment Finavera Renewables bought AquaEnergy in2006. Finavera thereby introduced the economical recourses necessary to build the first large prototype ofthe AquaBuOY that was deployed in Oregon USA September 2007.Kim Nielsen, November 20073