Resen Waves to supply wave energy tech for CCS project monitoring

Danish company Resen Waves has joined the Greensand carbon capture and storage (CCS) project to develop small-scale wave energy buoys that will be used for monitoring activities.

Resen Waves has started collaborating with Greensand project to develop buoys that will, through wave power, generate electricity for monitoring the CO2 storage and detecting any leaks. At the same time, they will function as a Wi-Fi hotspot, located several hundred kilometers out in the North Sea.

The collaboration is expected to revolutionize the way energy is generated for monitoring offshore activities using small-scale wave energy buoys. The new green technology has major climate and safety benefits for Project Greensand and, once development is complete, the buoy will be the first of its kind worldwide, the project partners said.

Per Resen, CEO and founder of Resen Waves, said: “It gives us a huge boost to be part of Project Greensand. We are one of the smallest companies in the consortium but are considered equals. The visionary and ambitious Project Greensand is one of the initiatives helping to lead the way in CCS of CO2 worldwide. It is an incredible opportunity for us to demonstrate our role in showcasing these new monitoring techniques.”

The innovative buoys from Resen Waves were an important factor in Project Greensand’s decision to replace the previous way of carrying out monitoring offshore, according to the Denmark-based company.

Traditionally, monitoring of offshore operations typically takes place by crewed vessels sailing far out to sea to carry out investigations. Such operations are highly polluting in terms of CO2 emissions, are a slow process and in the worst case can be a risk in terms of occupational injuries. However, the buoy’s data communications functionality removes the need for both ship and crew to go to sea to collect monitoring data, which brings a wide range of benefits, according to Resen Waves.

First, the buoys ensure that renewable power is used for the monitoring of the CO2 storage by harnessing the power of the waves at sea.

Next, the ‘network function’ of the buoys ensures that the collected monitoring data from the North Sea can be sent directly to land, where the data can then be examined immediately after collection. Last but not least, the buoys are autonomous, which is said to significantly reduce the risk of creating work in connection with the monitoring.

Søren Reinhold Poulsen, project director for Greensand, said: “We are extremely happy and proud of the collaboration with Resen Waves. What they do is quite unique, and their solution has not been seen before.

“Project Greensand is about much more than just storing CO2. We must develop the value chain for transporting and storing CO2, and here the buoys from Resen Waves are a brilliant example of how, with high ambitions, you can rethink the way offshore industries operate.”

The buoys are expected to be ready for the final tests in spring 2023, Resen Waves informed.

The consortium for the Greensand project, numbering 29 members, comprises major Danish and international companies with expertise in carbon capture, international research institutes and universities, as well as small Danish start-ups with ground-breaking ideas on monitoring technologies.

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