Strategy and National Targets
An updated governmental strategy for energy is expected in 2012.
Norway has no special policy for ocean energy but ocean energy is included in more general renewable energy policies and programmes. An updated governmental strategy for ocean energy is expected in 2012.

Support Initiatives and Market Stimulation Incentives
In 2011 Norway and Sweden signed an agreement for a joint green certificate market. From 2012 on, one certificate per MWh will be given to all new renewable energy generation for 15 years, independent of the technology. The price per certificate is driven by the market with a common electricity production target of 26.4 TWh by the end of 2020. No extra certificates will be given for ocean energy generation and a likely certificate and a power price in the joint market are approximately €25/MWh and €50/MWh, respectively. 

A total income of €75/MWh is almost certainly not enough for wave and tidal projects in the next decade, but governmental support programmes for research and development are intended to drive the development.

Main Public Funding Mechanisms 
The Norwegian Energy Agency, ENOVA, offers capital grants for full-scale demonstration projects of marine renewables. While up to 50% of eligible costs can be covered, ENOVA’s funding - measured in absolute figures - is limited. In addition, ENOVA has a programme that supports demonstrations of new energy technology. In 2010, Innovation Norway launched a programme supporting prototypes within “Environmental friendly technology”.  Ocean energy is included in this definition. Projects are supported with up to 45% of eligible costs.

The Research Council of Norway has an energy research programme called RENERGI. This programme supports R&D within all renewable energy technologies.  In 2011, these three institutions had a combined budget of approximately €110 million.

Relevant Legislation and Regulation
The Ocean Energy Bill, which regulates renewable offshore energy production entered into force on 1 July 2010. According to this new legislation, licences to build offshore wind, wave and tidal farms in certain farshore geographical areas cannot be given without a prior governmental process, where suitable areas are identified, made subject to consequence assessments and made available for leasing. This legal framework is very much inspired by similar legislation in the Norwegian Petroleum Sector. As a follow up on the Ocean Energy Bill, a group of relevant governmental bodies has identified 15 areas that could be suitable for large-scale offshore wind power. More detailed “strategic consequence assessments” will be finalized in 2012. 

Meanwhile, the licensing body NVE has continued to prioritize small scale demonstration projects located nearshore according to the existing Energy Bill. The licensing process is efficient and pragmatic. 

In Norway, ocean energy is included in more general renewable energy support programmes. The overall funding for renewable energy R&D made available through the Norwegian Research Council, Innovation Norway and ENOVA has increased significantly over the last years. This has also resulted in increased funding for ocean energy projects as well, from research to prototypes and demonstration.

The research cluster in Trondheim, comprising of NTNU and SINTEF/MARINTEK, is active in ocean energy research. Some of the activities are technology screening and verification, control systems, mooring, marine structures, safety, optimal design of devices and load modelling. MARINTEK’s model tank is also used to test ocean energy devices.

Runde Environmental Centre (REC) is located on the island Runde, off the Norwegian west coast. REC conducts research into marine biology, oceanography and ocean energy. REC has developed leading inhouse competence on environmental monitoring, and offers Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) survey, field sampling and laboratory facilities to investigate environmental impacts of the tested devices. The test site is being developed in co-operation with the local marine industry to ensure customers find worldclass services for all other necessary disciplines, making it an ideal location to perform extended product development, survivability and endurance tests, as well as technology qualification testing prior to field development.

The Stadt Towing Tank (STT) was founded in 2007 to deliver test and research services to the marine industry. The main market for STT has been ship designers in the maritime cluster of north-western Norway, but projects related to renewable energy were the main market in 2011, as new concepts are being developed and in need of testing and verification. 

Operational Ocean Energy Projects

Hammerfest Strøm
Hammerfest Strøm is among the leading technology developers in the world and is now taking the step into commercial delivery. The company has unrivalled commercial operation experience, by having developed and installed the world’s first grid connected tidal turbine – the HS300. The technology has been tested and operated for more than 6 years, and has a track record over 17500 hours production time.

Based on this technology and experience, the company has developed a 1 MW tidal turbine, named HS1000™, and the company has received Carbon Trust funding for the HS1000 turbine development. The installation of the pre-commercial unit HS1000 was completed in the first part of December this year at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) and commissioning will be in January 2012, after a test period.

Hammerfest Strøm is working closely together with its industrial shareholders, Andritz Hydro, Statoil and Iberdrola, and in co-operation with R&D institutions and sub-suppliers. 

1.5 MW prototype Morild II in Lofoten, Norway (Photo by Eric Fokke, www.lofotenbilder.no) 

Hydra Tidal
Hydra Tidal´s floating concept idea for Morild I was registered in 2001 - and subsequently developed and laboratory tested through to 2008. The focus has since been directed towards designing, building and commissioning the full-scale 1.5 MW prototype Morild II in Lofoten, Norway. Since the official opening in November 2010, the plant has been grid-connected and pre-tested for performance,
and has made several successful trial-feeds to thegrid. Following a current modification and upgrade of the tidal power device, it will be re-connected to
the grid, and tested further for performance, leading towards a complete verification and evaluation of the technology.

In June 2010, Hydra Tidal was awarded the Schweighofer Prize for using turbine blades machined from pine timber. In 2011, the company became part of major Norwegian industrial group, and is currently seeking collaboration for tidal lease opportunities in strategic territories in the UK, North-America, the Far East, as well as in the Norwegian waters.

Hydra Tidal is part of Straum, a Norwegian based technology developer and turn-key provider of marine renewable power plants (see www.straumgroup.com and www.hydratidal.com for more information). 

Fred Olsen
In 2009 Fred Olsen Ltd. deployed the wave energy buoy, called “BOLT”, their first full-scale prototype wave energy buoy with electricity production. The point absorber unit, which has a 45 kW installed capacity, is located on the south-east coast of Norway, close to the town of Risør. The system is not grid connected. As of mid-December 2010, BOLT has endured 18 months of sea operations with electricity production. The buoy will now be moved to a harsher environment further offshore in order to test max operating capabilities and production performance. The successful development of BOLT has also resulted in Fred Olsen Ltd being awarded a significant grant from the Technology Strategy Board in the UK and a precommercial full-scale BOLT unit was developed and deployed in the UK during 2011.

Seahorse
Seahorse is a single point absorber concept developed by the utility E-CO Energi. A main buoy on the surface and a submerged torpedo buoy are connected to the submerged generator unit by separate cords. The wave motion will move the surface buoy up and down, while the torpedo buoy will move in the opposite direction. This rotates the permanent magnet generator and produces electricity. The cords and the generator can be described as a two-drum/two-cord system. In this way, two drums have different sizes for the two cords to get correct speeds and force. A 3 kW prototype of the Seahorse concept has been tested at the Runde Environmental Centre (REC) in 2011.

Statkraft’s Osmotic Power Prototype
Statkraft opened the world’s first osmotic power plant in 2009 in Norway. The operation of the plant proves that power from salinity gradients can supply a stable base load of renewable energy, with a minimal ecological footprint.

The next big milestone is the decision to build a 2 MW pilot plant. Investment decision is planned for 2013. Furthermore, the goal is to build a full-scale demonstration plant by 2020. Statkraft and Nitto Denko/Hydranautics have entered into an agreement for the development and supply of membranes for osmotic power. This co-operation will accelerate the development of membranes specifically designed for the use in large scale osmotic power plants. 

Statkraft believes that osmotic power is one of the technologies that can provide clean energy towards 2050, and will continue to work with industry experts and technology suppliers globally to create real industrial progress and help realize the potential of salinity gradients. 

New Developments

Havkraft AS
Havkraft is a Norwegian ‘green technology’ company specializing in offshore installations for the utilization of wave energy for power production. The company’s shareholders are founder Geir Arne Solheim and Fjord Invest. Tests conducted in 2011 show promising results. H-WEC (Havkraft Wave Energy Converter) combines high efficiency and simple construction - with no movable parts in contact with sea - in an improved and patented OWC device (PCT pending). A large scale test programme will be started in 2012 with support from Innovation Norway and co-investors.

Langlee Wave Power
The Norwegian company Langlee Wave Power has developed an offshore floating wave energy converter with the innovative flap/wing system designed for the horizontal movements of the wave. The semisubmersible design for 50-150 m water depths is based on Norwegian offshore engineering and in 2010 Aker Solutions executed analysis and structural engineering for Langlee. The second round of extensive testing at Aalborg University, Denmark, was successful.

Recently, Langlee has announced the development of a new mooring system based on proven fish farm technology to drive down supply chain costs. In the summer of 2012, Langlee will deploy its own demo unit outside Egersund, Norway, for testing and verification. The Turkish company Ünmaksan has also a co-operation agreement with Langlee for a customer pilot in 2013. Projects for Island States, South America and Spain/Gran Canaria are in progress. Langlee has signed a Letter of Intent with Tangaroa Energy in New Zealand to launch a demonstration project off Steward Island, South Island, New Zealand. The project has just secured NZ$ 312,000 of funding from the New Zealand Government. Deployment is planned in 2012. 

Intentium
Intentium AS is a Norwegian-based wave power developing company. Founded in 2007, the company’s main goal has been to contribute to a sustainable energy production, through developing a wave energy system, called Intentium Offshore Wave Energy Project - iowep. Since start-up, the company has conducted internal model tank testing, carried out some external feasibility studies and gained patent NO329737B1 (international patent pending). The major news in the innovation is a focus on the dominant wave direction and wave crest length, the use of a double-acting pump, a buoyancy-controlled water anchor and a power take-off (PTO) consisting of an accumulator, water turbine and generator.

OWC Power
The Norwegian company OWC Power AS develops a wave power device based on the Oscillating Water Column (OWC) principle. Both the offshore engineering and fabrication specialist NLI and hydropower turbine supplier, Rainpower, are involved in the development project. This project is partly funded by the Norwegian Research Council. In the second half of 2011 tests of a small scale OWC device in wave tank and small scale air turbine in a turbine lab were carried out. The technology is expected to be applicable both in shoreline based and offshore based installations.

The first prototype is expected to be a shoreline based installation. For further information about OWC Power AS, please visit their web pages at: www.owcpower.com