Artemis Intelligent Power and Quoceant believe that the sea-proven ‘quantised chamber-switching’ concept provides the most promising foundation for addressing wave energy challenges. Quantised systems are very efficient and able to deal economically with very high instantaneous power levels whilst generating electricity at steady mean powers. However, by its nature, chamber-switching produces coarsely stepped load profiles that limit WEC controllability and compromise wave energy absorption.

In a previous Stage 2 project, Artemis and Quoceant demonstrated that Digital Displacement® (DD) technology can be used to complement quantised chamber-switching, smooth out the load steps and provide continuously variable control.

By offering unparalleled efficiency, controllability and power handling capability, this hybrid hydraulic ‘Quantor’ PTO can increase the productivity of a wide range of WECs. Artemis and Quoceant teamed up again for the next stage of Quantor development. Their Stage 3 project advance Quantor to full demonstration on a purpose built test-rig that allowed realistic representation of WEC dynamics. This was vital because interactions between WEC and PTO can cause instability and performance limitations that must be understood when developing control software.