Harnessing the Power of Rivers and Tides: A Conversation with ORPC on Renewable Energy Innovation

Ocean Renewable Power Company (ORPC) is a pioneer in using the energy from free-flowing rivers and tides to generate sustainable power, particularly in remote areas. Their innovative RivGen® and TidGen® Power Systems replace traditional diesel generators and provide reliable power during grid outages, respectively. The company employs advanced simulation techniques for product development, using Rescale's platform to optimize computational fluid dynamics and structural analysis of their cross flow turbines. These simulations help tackle the challenges of rapidly changing water flows and enable ORPC to improve turbine efficiency and reduce costs, with recent models achieving up to 44% efficiency. By leveraging Rescale, ORPC can run complex simulations more efficiently, supporting their goal of expanding into larger markets with more resilient and cost-effective energy solutions. The company is also exploring future innovations such as fluid-structure interactions and AI/ML integration to further enhance their designs. ORPC emphasizes the importance of scalable and user-friendly high-performance computing solutions in the renewable energy sector, highlighting how precise modeling can significantly impact performance and cost outcomes.