Renewables
With over a decade of cross-market experience, Watt & Well is a reference in the world of power electronics and power conversion. Working with traditional energy companies and tier 1 contractors, we understand the challenges of our customers.
In harsh environments, with high temperatures, repeated shocks, constant vibration and mechanical constraints, our products need to be rugged, reliable, and right first time. Failure is not an option, which is why all our products are subject to the most stringent thermal and mechanical stress tests to detect any defects or weaknesses in electrical equipment.
In parallel with our solutions for traditional energy applications, we are developing innovative solutions that can be used in renewable energy applications. We are working with world leading R&D centers including ArianeGroup, Groupe Renault, Analogue Devices, SBM Offshore and many more.
Here are some examples.
Wave Energy Converter (WEC)
Watt & Well has been working with SBM Offshore since 2017 to develop its innovative WEC S3® Wave Energy Convertor. This new generation wave energy convertor system marks the first step towards harnessing large scale, commercially viable wave energy. It moves beyond the barriers inherent in the industry’s conventional wave energy devices, which have met technical and economic limitations.
The WEC S3® Wave Energy Convertor features direct energy conversion from waves to electricity by application of Electro Active Polymers. Energy is generated through a series of dielectric elastomer generators (DEG) which charge kinetic energy as the polymers are stretched and discharges energy as they are relaxed.
The flexible floater and its mooring system require minimum maintenance and have already been successfully tested in a model basin facility. The first pilot project of this technology is soon to be launched off the coast of Marseille, France.
Watt & Well has developed the onshore and offshore electronics components of the prototype.
Hydrogen Energy Storage Solutions
Today, most hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels through steam methane reforming, generating 830 Mt of annual CO2 emissions.
Carbon-free “green” hydrogen is produced using electrolyzers to split water molecules and separate the hydrogen from the oxygen. In the same way, the operation can be reversed, combining hydrogen and oxygen to form water. It is an expensive and energy intensive process, but when the energy used is from renewable sources, hydro, wind or solar, then the hydrogen produced acts as a versatile, fossil-free energy carrier.
This green hydrogen could play a useful and complimentary role to current energy storage solutions. Batteries are a cost-effective way to store small amounts of energy on a short-term basis, but they are not at the scale of being able to store a large amount of energy over 6 months. Storing energy in the form of hydrogen (up to a few MWh) produced from excess wind or solar PV, can facilitate grid balancing to offset the intermittency of renewables.
Watt & Well is exploring the application of its bi-directional power units to develop hydrogen based energy storage solutions.
