Methodology for Design and Economic Analysis of Marine Energy Conversion (MEC) Technologies

This paper presents results of the Reference Model Project (RMP), which began five years ago to facilitate Marine Energy Conversion (MEC) technology development and market acceleration. The four Reference Models presented herein are point designs of common MEC technology archetypes that allowed the benchmarking of technical and economic performance, and the identification of knowledge gaps, cost drivers, and cost reduction pathways that require further research and development. This project generated detailed CAD (SolidWorks) geometry files for each point design along with physical model data sets. In December 2013, Sandia National Laboratories launched a public website at http://energy.sandia.gov/rmp, which serves as a data clearing house for other MEC researchers and developers to access all supporting design documents, SolidWorks geometry files, LCOE estimation spreadsheets, and experimental data sets.