Impact case study database

The two most significant impacts within the REF period have been via commercial partners and inclusion in policy discussions/decisions. Commercial impact takes the form of costs saved and investment attracted as a direct result of interaction with UoP. Costs were saved because testing within the COAST Laboratory is much more tightly controlled than would be at sea. Furthermore, smaller scale models could be used, fewer personnel were needed, and because partners subjected their prototypes to far more rigorous testing than could be achieved via full scale at-sea tests, designs were improved beyond that which would have previously been possible. The examples given here, which are a small subset of all projects carried out within the COAST facility, are estimated by the companies involved to be worth approximately £36million in saved costs and additional investment received. The testimonials received during preparation of this case study also refer to increased know-how and reputational enhancements; which are impossible to quantify but are reported to have very likely led to increases in sales and income for individual businesses. Policy impact has occurred via authorship of sector strategies, leadership of collaborative research efforts and increasing awareness amongst decision makers. This has led to a more joined up approach between academia, industry and regulators which testimonials credit with enabling investment and speeding the growth of the sector.

The COAST Laboratory

At-sea tests of wave energy devices are very expensive and the ORE/MRE sectors are emerging sectors; characterised by many innovative, small, start-up companies and relatively few early stage investors. The unique adaptability of the COAST Laboratory facility means partners can subject their prototypes to all the conditions which could be encountered at sea, including for example, freak waves which are very likely to occur whilst a device is in use but are very unlikely to occur during a test phase of an early prototype. Partners are extremely positive about the support they received and the commercial benefits working with the COAST team has created [5.1-5.6]. In total, users reported saving over £7million through the avoidance of expensive sea trials alongside the ability to subject their prototypes to more extreme oceanic conditions and therefore to optimise their designs. The partnership with COAST has enabled 41 companies to move their devices through technology readiness much more rapidly and successfully than would have otherwise been possible. A programme of at-sea testing typically takes 12 months to complete and requires 1:3 and full scale models, whereas testing within the COAST facility might only take approximately two weeks and results can be achieved with a much smaller scale model, enabling material cost savings as well as savings from reduced need for support vessels, personnel, etc.

For example in 2019 AMOG [5.4] tested a 1:12 scale WEC (Wave Energy Converter) model and tow bridle design to define real world tow condition parameters, to increase safety and prove the capability of their technology demonstrator. This work enabled AMOG to attract external investment and move on to sea trials of a 1:3 scale technology demonstrator. MTG [5.6] conducted tank testing and numerical modelling of a novel floating tidal energy concept, which secured £1.4m investment and start-up capital: “without the collaborative research we undertook together we would not have been able to contemplate building our scale model”. Large leaps forward with 3 products were enabled for Marine Power Systems [5.1]; the increased knowledge and understanding supported the company in securing £24M in new investment, saved £200,000 in estimated at-sea trial costs, enabled recruitment of specialist staff and increased the likelihood of market success by facilitating interaction with policy makers: “…to place MPS and the UK at the forefront of a potentially very important sector of the future. In getting to this point the partnership with the COAST Laboratory has been vital to MPS”. For Griffon Hoverwork Ltd. [5.6] COAST Lab enabled existing specialist expertise to be utilised on a brand new concept for which: “ the company expects to develop new methods and skills, initially through R&D programmes, continuing through prototyping and eventually on to production”. For Corpower Ocean [5.6], ‘ The successful tank testing at the Ocean Basin has allowed CorPower to unlock multi-million euro funding releases from key project funders and investors as we were able to pass and prove key design and project milestones’.

Collaborative Numerical Methods development

The physical COAST facility is not the only route through which Plymouth’s research has been applied for positive benefit. The CCP-WSI Blind Test Series was cited by all those involved in the tests and named in the testimonials associated with this case study as being particularly influential in terms of their own in-house code refinement, reputations for technical excellence and ability to offer their own customers numerical/computation assessment methods. CCP-WSI work with ARUP [5.5] enabled them to save costs estimated (savings were not tracked so they cannot be more specific) to be of the order of hundreds of thousands and time when significant design iteration was required on wave slam pressures/loading simulation of a £2bn offshore platform project. ARUP cited “enabling new know-how and code which has enhanced the in-house wave-slam and hydrodynamics elements of a key piece of engineering consultancy software as a result of the CCP-WSI blind test series”. Furthermore, the company noted the importance of such collaborative projects to the reputation of UK businesses and thus their ability to win external business. The world’s largest design validation organisation, DNV-GL [5.2] also collaborated within the CCP-WSI to improve their in-house wave energy impact code. The testimonial author reports his belief from conservations with customers and colleagues that this work greatly enhanced their reputation as a technology leader, increasing the likelihood of winning new business, and increased satisfaction amongst technical staff thanks to the intellectually fulfilling project. Overall the company credits the collaboration as having contributed approximately £100,000 p.a.

Supergen ORE

The ORE/MRE sector contains multiple small, start-up firms, many of which are growing rapidly within this young and dynamic sector. Greaves’ role in providing research leadership, connecting the sector and advocacy is frequently highlighted by partners. For CWE [5.3], the impact of COAST is “in the order of £5 million in cost savings and deferrals, because at sea tests of prototypes are de-risked and we are able to bring a more thoroughly tested device with far more design iterations to market. Other than the direct impact on our device, interaction with the COAST team, particularly through Prof Greaves’ role in leading Supergen ORE, has also exposed our business to a much wider network of similar businesses and has enabled us to participate in developing shared research goals to move the UK sector on and enhance its place in the world market.” For CWE strengthening connections within the sector and enabling it to agree shared messages to policy makers and technical goals has been particularly helpful.

Policy impact has also been generated:

Following workshops in Aug ‘19, Jan ’20 and a series of structured interviews with academics, policy-makers, funding bodies and industry professionals, Prof Greaves authored a comprehensive review of the UK wave energy sector reporting on progress, achievement and international position to UK Government and industry. The report demonstrated the potential for decarbonisation of UK industry through utility scale and niche markets in wave energy; recommendations were made to develop the sector. Subsequently, the Wave Energy Innovation Position Paper and Wave Energy Road Map were published by Supergen ORE Hub in May 2020 [5.7], resulting in the EPSRC launch of the £4.5 million Marine Wave Energy Call for proposals. Outputs from this work also contributed to the BEIS consultation on contracts for Difference for Low Carbon Electricity Generation (May 2020) which caused a splitting of funds into separate fixed and floating offshore wind categories. Furthermore, the outputs of Prof Greaves’ roadmap and innovation report were also carried forward into the September 2020 call for evidence on the potential of marine energy projects in Great Britain [5.8] and in turn into the Energy white paper [5.9].

The two most significant impacts within the REF period have been via commercial partners and inclusion in policy discussions/decisions. Commercial impact takes the form of costs saved and investment attracted as a direct result of interaction with UoP. Costs were saved because testing within the COAST Laboratory is much more tightly controlled than would be at sea. Furthermore, smaller scale models could be used, fewer personnel were needed, and because partners subjected their prototypes to far more rigorous testing than could be achieved via full scale at-sea tests, designs were improved beyond that which would have previously been possible. The examples given here, which are a small subset of all projects carried out within the COAST facility, are estimated by the companies involved to be worth approximately £36million in saved costs and additional investment received. The testimonials received during preparation of this case study also refer to increased know-how and reputational enhancements; which are impossible to quantify but are reported to have very likely led to increases in sales and income for individual businesses. Policy impact has occurred via authorship of sector strategies, leadership of collaborative research efforts and increasing awareness amongst decision makers. This has led to a more joined up approach between academia, industry and regulators which testimonials credit with enabling investment and speeding the growth of the sector.

The COAST Laboratory

At-sea tests of wave energy devices are very expensive and the ORE/MRE sectors are emerging sectors; characterised by many innovative, small, start-up companies and relatively few early stage investors. The unique adaptability of the COAST Laboratory facility means partners can subject their prototypes to all the conditions which could be encountered at sea, including for example, freak waves which are very likely to occur whilst a device is in use but are very unlikely to occur during a test phase of an early prototype. Partners are extremely positive about the support they received and the commercial benefits working with the COAST team has created [5.1-5.6]. In total, users reported saving over £7million through the avoidance of expensive sea trials alongside the ability to subject their prototypes to more extreme oceanic conditions and therefore to optimise their designs. The partnership with COAST has enabled 41 companies to move their devices through technology readiness much more rapidly and successfully than would have otherwise been possible. A programme of at-sea testing typically takes 12 months to complete and requires 1:3 and full scale models, whereas testing within the COAST facility might only take approximately two weeks and results can be achieved with a much smaller scale model, enabling material cost savings as well as savings from reduced need for support vessels, personnel, etc.

For example in 2019 AMOG [5.4] tested a 1:12 scale WEC (Wave Energy Converter) model and tow bridle design to define real world tow condition parameters, to increase safety and prove the capability of their technology demonstrator. This work enabled AMOG to attract external investment and move on to sea trials of a 1:3 scale technology demonstrator. MTG [5.6] conducted tank testing and numerical modelling of a novel floating tidal energy concept, which secured £1.4m investment and start-up capital: “without the collaborative research we undertook together we would not have been able to contemplate building our scale model”. Large leaps forward with 3 products were enabled for Marine Power Systems [5.1]; the increased knowledge and understanding supported the company in securing £24M in new investment, saved £200,000 in estimated at-sea trial costs, enabled recruitment of specialist staff and increased the likelihood of market success by facilitating interaction with policy makers: “…to place MPS and the UK at the forefront of a potentially very important sector of the future. In getting to this point the partnership with the COAST Laboratory has been vital to MPS”. For Griffon Hoverwork Ltd. [5.6] COAST Lab enabled existing specialist expertise to be utilised on a brand new concept for which: “ the company expects to develop new methods and skills, initially through R&D programmes, continuing through prototyping and eventually on to production”. For Corpower Ocean [5.6], ‘ The successful tank testing at the Ocean Basin has allowed CorPower to unlock multi-million euro funding releases from key project funders and investors as we were able to pass and prove key design and project milestones’.

Collaborative Numerical Methods development

The physical COAST facility is not the only route through which Plymouth’s research has been applied for positive benefit. The CCP-WSI Blind Test Series was cited by all those involved in the tests and named in the testimonials associated with this case study as being particularly influential in terms of their own in-house code refinement, reputations for technical excellence and ability to offer their own customers numerical/computation assessment methods. CCP-WSI work with ARUP [5.5] enabled them to save costs estimated (savings were not tracked so they cannot be more specific) to be of the order of hundreds of thousands and time when significant design iteration was required on wave slam pressures/loading simulation of a £2bn offshore platform project. ARUP cited “enabling new know-how and code which has enhanced the in-house wave-slam and hydrodynamics elements of a key piece of engineering consultancy software as a result of the CCP-WSI blind test series”. Furthermore, the company noted the importance of such collaborative projects to the reputation of UK businesses and thus their ability to win external business. The world’s largest design validation organisation, DNV-GL [5.2] also collaborated within the CCP-WSI to improve their in-house wave energy impact code. The testimonial author reports his belief from conservations with customers and colleagues that this work greatly enhanced their reputation as a technology leader, increasing the likelihood of winning new business, and increased satisfaction amongst technical staff thanks to the intellectually fulfilling project. Overall the company credits the collaboration as having contributed approximately £100,000 p.a.

Supergen ORE

The ORE/MRE sector contains multiple small, start-up firms, many of which are growing rapidly within this young and dynamic sector. Greaves’ role in providing research leadership, connecting the sector and advocacy is frequently highlighted by partners. For CWE [5.3], the impact of COAST is “in the order of £5 million in cost savings and deferrals, because at sea tests of prototypes are de-risked and we are able to bring a more thoroughly tested device with far more design iterations to market. Other than the direct impact on our device, interaction with the COAST team, particularly through Prof Greaves’ role in leading Supergen ORE, has also exposed our business to a much wider network of similar businesses and has enabled us to participate in developing shared research goals to move the UK sector on and enhance its place in the world market.” For CWE strengthening connections within the sector and enabling it to agree shared messages to policy makers and technical goals has been particularly helpful.

Policy impact has also been generated:

Following workshops in Aug ‘19, Jan ’20 and a series of structured interviews with academics, policy-makers, funding bodies and industry professionals, Prof Greaves authored a comprehensive review of the UK wave energy sector reporting on progress, achievement and international position to UK Government and industry. The report demonstrated the potential for decarbonisation of UK industry through utility scale and niche markets in wave energy; recommendations were made to develop the sector. Subsequently, the Wave Energy Innovation Position Paper and Wave Energy Road Map were published by Supergen ORE Hub in May 2020 [5.7], resulting in the EPSRC launch of the £4.5 million Marine Wave Energy Call for proposals. Outputs from this work also contributed to the BEIS consultation on contracts for Difference for Low Carbon Electricity Generation (May 2020) which caused a splitting of funds into separate fixed and floating offshore wind categories. Furthermore, the outputs of Prof Greaves’ roadmap and innovation report were also carried forward into the September 2020 call for evidence on the potential of marine energy projects in Great Britain [5.8] and in turn into the Energy white paper [5.9].