Press and Press Releases

Atargis Welcomes Michael Egan as CEO

December 1, 2023, Atargis Energy

Atargis Energy Corporation welcomes Michael Egan as its new CEO, effective December 1, 2023. Bill Hartman, who served as CEO starting in August 2020, will retain his position on the Atargis board of directors.

Atargis Energy Corporation Press Release

Atargis Board Appoints CAO

October 19, 2022, Atargis Energy

The Atargis Board of Directors is excited to appoint Freia Siegel to the newly created position of Chief Administrative Officer.

Atargis Energy Corporation Press Release

Atargis Energy Joins 2nd Cohort of the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator

August 4, 2022, Atargis Energy

Supported by the major energy companies in Houston and numerous other investors, corporations and community partners, the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship Clean Energy Accelerator is the preeminent clean energy accelerator in the energy capital of the world! Atargis is excited to announce that we’ve been selected as part of Class 2.

Meet Class 2 of the Rice Alliance Clean Energy Accelerator

Rice Alliance Press Release

Atargis Energy Corporation Press Release

Atargis Energy Announces Senior Advisory Board

July 7, 2022, Atargis Energy

Atargis Energy Corporation is honored to announce the first additions to the newly-formed advisory board. Industry leaders Michael Egan, Vice Admiral Dennis McGinn and Dr. Jeff Roberts have jouined the team. The full press release is available below.

Atargis Energy Announces Senior Advisory Board.

DoE signed contract for development of the Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter

November 7, 2019, Department of Energy

This week the US Department of Energy (DoE) approved funding for a three year program to demonstrate the capabilities of the 2.5 MW Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter under development by Atargis Energy. This scalable and cost efficient wave energy converter design uses hydrofoils to convert wave energy to shaft power, which is converted to electricity by a generator and then supplied to the power grid. The work will include numerical simulations as well as large scale wave tank testing. To achieve the project goals Atargis is expanding its technical team by hiring a CFD Specialist and an Ocean Engineer.

U.S. Department of Energy Awards $25 Million for Next-Generation Marine Energy Research Projects

Atargis Energy wins DoE/EERE Research Grant

January 8, 2019, Department of Energy

The Department of Energy selected the proposal submitted by Atargis Energy in 2018 for award negotiations. This funding will allow Atargis Energy to advance the development of the Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter during the next three years. A key highlight will be 1:20 scale wave tank testing of the Atargis 2.5MW Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter.

U.S. Department of Energy Awards $25 Million for Next-Generation Marine Energy Research Projects

Benchmarking Study Passes Peer Review

November 10, 2018, Renewable Energy

The paper: "Numerical Benchmarking Study of a Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter" has been accepted for publication after passing peer review.

The abstract reads: "A lift based Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter (CycWEC) was investigated using numerical simulations to estimate its mean annual power absorption. Based on the power absorption as well as size and weight estimates a number of performance measures were derived in order to compare this novel Wave Energy Converter (WEC) to other more established devices for which results have been published by Babarit et al. using a similar benchmarking approach.

Comparison of these measures with published data for eight more established WEC designs, including heaving buoy, oscillating water column and flap devices shows that the CycWEC performance in all metrics exceeds that of all other devices. Most importantly, the energy per mass of the CycWEC exceeds that of all other devices by more than an order of magnitude, indicating the potential of the CycWEC to significantly lower the Levelized Cost of Energy (LCoE) and reducing it to a level where the CycWEC can compete with other renewable energy sources like solar and wind."

Siegel, S. G., "Numerical Benchmarking Study of a Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter", Renewable Energy, 2019, 134, 390-405

Atargis participates in NREL TPL study

May 06, 2018 NREL

Atargis submitted a detailed technical description following an invitation by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) to participate in a Technology Performance Level (TPL) assessment study. The TPL measures how cost competitive a renewable energy device is relative to the cost of other renewables and non-renewables.

Benchmarking Paper Submitted for Publication

December 20, 2017 J. Energies

Atargis submitted a numerical benchmarking study for publication that demonstrates how the CycWEC can extract more power at a much lighter overall device weight. The study extends the work published by Babarit et. al in 2012, by adding the CycWEC to the conventional WEC devices benchmarked in this paper. The paper is presently under peer review for publication in the journal Energies

Development of a New 1:100 Scale Experiment

August 2016, Atargis Energy

To experimentally validate the promising simulation results with an optimized CycWEC geometry, Atargis started the process of designing and developing a new 1:100 scale wave flume model. Unlike the model used in the NSF funded work in 2009, the new model enables shaft power measurements as well as advanced sensing of the incoming waves. The model also supports testing of improved blade pitch control algorithms.

CycWEC Wave Radiation and Scatter Performance Papers Published

January 2015, Applied Ocean Research

The results from the 2012 testing campaigns sparked the development of advanced simulation codes at Atargis to investigate the effects of three dimensional wave radiation, as well as the span of the CycWEC blades. Initial results from these simulations show that the three dimensional wave radiation effects increase power capture. The advanced foil simulation results enabled optimization of the CycWEC geometry, which led to a reduced diameter as well as foil chord. Both effects together improve power production and decrease cost compared to earlier estimates. The full papers can be found in the scientific publication section of this page.

Wave Climate Scatter Performance of a Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter Wave Radiation of a Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter

US trying to produce power from ocean waves

August 06, 2012, China Daily

Although ocean wave technology still has a long way to go, US scientists are now seeking ways to make ocean wave energy the nation's newest source of green power, local media reported on Sunday.

China Daily

Scientists seek next wave in power generation

August 05, 2012, Houston Chronicle

Aerospace engineers are working to make ocean wave energy the nation's newest source of green power by applying the physics of wind turbines to the sea. Former U.S. Air Force Academy scientists took over Texas A&M University's wave tank recently to test the idea that if air can produce affordable electricity, so can ocean water. For decades, researchers have sought ways to turn the energy in ocean waves into electricity - economically and with minimal impact to marine environments. But as other forms of renewable energy have flourished, commercial power from ocean waves hasn't made it onto U.S. grids.

Houston Chronicle

Seeking power from the sea

August 06, 2012, San Antonio Express News

Aerospace engineers are working to make ocean wave energy the nation's newest source of green power by applying the physics of wind turbines to the sea.

San Antonio Express News

Atargis Energy successfully converts ocean wave energy to electricity using a Cycloidal Wave Energy Converter

February 05, 2012, Colorado Springs Gazette

Colorado Springs may be landlocked, but a local company could hold the key to unlocking the power of the sea — if it can navigate the tricky shoals that separate research from business. Atargis Energy Corporation, named after a mythical half-man, half-fish sea god, was founded two years ago to turn president and chief technology officer Stefan Siegel’s Air Force Academy research on wave energy into a workable product.

Colorado Springs Gazette

On the crest of wave energy

November 18, 2009, NSF News

The ocean is a potentially vast source of electric power, yet as engineers test new technologies for capturing it, the devices are plagued by battering storms, limited efficiency, and the need to be tethered to the seafloor. Now, a team of aerospace engineers is applying the principles that keep airplanes aloft to create a new wave-energy system that is durable, extremely efficient, and can be placed anywhere in the ocean, regardless of depth. While still in early design stages, computer and scale-model tests of the system suggest higher efficiencies than wind turbines.

NSF News

Academy awarded $285,000 for wave energy research

August 20, 2008, Air Force News

The next source of alternative energy could come from ocean waves, and Air Force Academy professors have been granted funding to dive into this research. The National Science Foundation has awarded the Academy's Aeronautics Department $285,619 to support a cycloidal propeller wave energy converter research project to harness the ocean's power. The concept of ocean waves turning power-generating turbines is simple -- put propellers underwater, then let the motion of incoming and outgoing waves, along with tidal currents turn the propellers and turbines to crank out electricity.

Colorado Springs Gazette