Teams led by Arup and rope and mooring specialist Tension Technology International are to share just under £1m in funding for development projects that aim to bring down the cost of wave power.

The teams have each secured funding from Wave Energy Scotland (WES) to demonstrate the potential of new applications of materials intended to bring down the cost of wave power.

The Arup consortium aims to show that precast reinforced concrete can be incorporated in a variety of wave technologies.

Tension Technology International will advance the design of its flexible buoyant pod which is encapsulated in a fibre rope net.

WES managing director Tim Hurst said: “Our goal is to deliver technologies that can produce power reliably and can demonstrate a route to commercial readiness.

“These two projects use materials that have a long history of use in the marine environment but so far have not been considered for wave energy machines. We believe both have real potential to be incorporated in future devices and bring down the cost of wave power.”

The Arup team is already working with Inverness-based wave energy technology developer AWS Ocean Energy to investigate the use of the technology in the AWS Archimedes Waveswing. The submerged buoy is itself a recipient of WES funding through another programme.

Last year AWS and Edinburgh firm Mocean Energy shared £8m to build half-scale wave energy machines, which will be tested in real ocean conditions later this year.

“One of the benefits of reinforced concrete is that it has a lower unit cost and superior durability to steel in the marine environment and could be applied to a number of wave energy concepts, especially where its higher mass can bring benefits,” said Hurst.