WIND SETS STANDARD FOR WAVES

Wave energy racing to catch up with wind
Nao Nakanishi (w/William Hardy), May 5, 2009 (Reuters)

"Wave energy could catch up with commercially more advanced offshore wind power within five years, [according to] the head of pioneers Aquamarine Power Ltd…

"Government adviser Carbon Trust has calculated marine energy could supply up to 20 percent of Britain's power but the technology is still at the prototype stage."

The UK is a hotbed of wave research because it has the resource worth the work. (click to enlarge)

"To cut Britain's greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from the 1990 level, the government is stepping up support for new renewable technology, including marine power.

"Aquamarine Power, a privately-owned company set up in 2005 with headquarters in Edinburgh, is one of the handful of British companies already testing its marine energy device in the ocean…[and hopes to have a commercially available device and 100 megawatts of installed capacity by 2014]…"

Aquamarine's wave energy device. (click to enlarge)

"In April, it won the first electricity from its 0.5 MW hydroelectric wave energy converter, tested at the New and Renewable Energy Center (NaREC) in Newcastle since February...It plans to install the device, called Oyster, in July at the European Marine Energy Center (EMEC) in Orkney, Scotland -- seen at the forefront of marine renewable technology development…

"The converter consists of an oscillator fitted with pistons and fixed to the seabed. Each wave moves the oscillator, pumping high pressure water via a pipeline to the shore. Conventional hydroelectric generators onshore convert it into electricity…Aquamarine has invested about 20 million pounds ($30.18 million) in the device, which is about 18 meters wide and 12 meters tall…"