For the wave energy industry, the leap from R&D to commercial deployment remains considerable and arises as part of the ‘wave energy paradox’, defined here as a negative reinforcement cycle involving a lack of investment, deployment, learning and returns. In this context, we review performance metrics set by funding bodies, industry standards and developers, examining how existing practices can result in sub-optimal design targets due to current specifications and misalignment of metrics between developers and external stakeholders. This paper offers initial insights - via a case study - to demonstrate how the integration of meaningful and aligned metrics throughout the design process represents a key lever in overcoming the paradox.
The vast potential of wave energy as a renewable source of power has been advocated for several decades (Isaacs & Seymour, 1973), (Cruz, 2008). Although nearshore wave energy potential has been estimated to be in the TW range, e.g. (Gunn & Stock-Williams, 2012), global deployed capacity as of 2017 was lagging at only 8MW (Ocean Energy Systems, 2017). Many observers argue that the shortfall is a result of the failure of wave energy converters (WECs) to converge to a single optimal design, though this can be viewed as both a cause and an effect (see following section). In 2016, O'Hagan et al. highlighted that "more than 50 types of WECs have been designed, but less than 20% have reached full-scale prototype stage" (O'Hagan, Huertas, O'Callaghan, & Greaves, 2016). Two notable (Edinburgh-based) projects that showed great promise, but ultimately failed to achieve commercialization, have been Pelamis and Aquamarine Power, which fell into administration in 2014 and 2015 respectively (The European Marine Energy Centre Ltd, 2015). Subsequently, Wave Energy Scotland (WES), a public funding body backed by the Scottish Government, purchased the know-how of these companies and set up a competitive procurement programme to streamline development of wave energy in several key technology areas. These events testify how, from a development perspective, "there is a clear need for research that outlines the pathway required to achieve LCOE1 and deployment goals" (de Andres, MacGillivray, Roberts, Guanche, & Jeffrey, 2017).
