D6.13 Standardisation Report

To facilitate the development of the wave energy converter (WEC) industry, a considerable effort needs to be conducted to establish appropriate international guidelines that can reduce uncertainties, standardise e.g. design or manufacturing approaches and streamline the accreditation process up to commercial arrays.

The marine energy industry is still at its infancy, and no dedicated standards have been developed to date. Recently, a number of high-level documents that have approached WEC design and certification have been developed, in particular technical specifications e.g. from the IEC TC114 group. Moreover, more mature industries such as the maritime, oil and gas and offshore wind sectors present similarities to some aspects of the marine renewable energy sector, in aspects such as e.g. structural design of marine structures. A range of key documentation from such industries has been used to date to support the development of WEC devices.

As part of the MegaRoller project, one of the key objectives is to monitor the development of technical specifications, guidelines and standards relevant to the WEC industry, and in particular to the MegaRoller technology. Such monitoring aims to guide the design, implementation and integration of the Power Take-Off (PTO), facilitating its commercialisation. In a preliminary step, a review of the existing standards and their applicability was documented in [D6.6, 2019]. In this document, the final key findings regarding the applicability of technical specifications, guidelines and standards to the MegaRoller technology and to the WEC industry are documented, in an extension of [D6.6, 2019], providing a view of the most up-todate status of the standardisation work, along with clear recommendations for future activities.

In the next steps, it is recommended that the dissemination activities conducted throughout the MegaRoller project are used to support the future development of standards. In particular, the dissemination of the key test data produced throughout the project, and their associated analysis and findings, aim to contribute to informing the standard requirements. This is particularly valuable, as it is generally recognised that the lack of measured data from testing of WEC devices has hindered progress on the development of standards. The MegaRoller dissemination activities, by taking advantage of analysing and disseminating test data, is anticipated to contribute significantly to such developments, especially as it is focusing on a second-generation WEC, that brings unique insights on the standard requirements.

To incorporate the knowledge collected during the project into technical specifications and, eventually, standards, the relevant technical committees should be engaged with. In particular for the IEC standards, the TC114 committee review and update the standards through maintenance teams typically comprised of National Committee members, with revisions at intervals typically a few years, considering the low maturity of the industry. For the IEC 62600 series, the Stability Date (date at which standards are due for review) ranges from end 2021 (e.g. for IEC TS 62600-100:2012) to 2024 (e.g. for IEC TS 62600-2:2019). It is within these windows that engagement with National Committees on the gaps can be undertaken, through direct participation, engagement with National Committee members, presentation of results at conferences, and publication of academic articles.

It is anticipated that the gaps presented in this deliverable are considered in the next update of the existing marine energy standards.