NEW ENERGY’S RISING WATERS

Wave and tidal power growing slowly, steadily
December 2009 (Electric Light and Power via HydroWorld)

"Proponents of wave and tidal power have compared the state of this area of the renewable energy sector with the early days of wind power. The technology has great potential but still must prove itself…

"Wave energy technology uses the movement of ocean waves to generate electricity from turbines…[T]idal power…is based on extracting energy from tidal movements and the water currents that accompany their rise and fall…[T]idal energy’s advantage lies in its predictability. Wave energy could be more abundant than tidal energy while still being less intermittent than wind or solar power…Conditions along coastlines or on the ocean surface, however, can be hard on wave and tidal installations…"

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"…The extent to which this will prove practical to harness [wave energy] will depend upon the successful development of near-shore and deep-water technologies…The most energetic wave resources are along the coasts of the Americas, Europe, Southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand…The [European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) at Scotland’s Orkney Islands] is one of the world’s foremost proving grounds for wave and tidal technologies and has collected more than 100 wave energy concepts, with many still at the research and development stage…[They] can be three to four times more expensive than wind power per megawatt…The United Kingdom remains one of the largest state sponsors of wave and tidal power…

"Scottish firm Pelamis Wave Power…launched a project in Portugal called the Agucadoura wave farm. The project consisted of three of the company’s P1-A Marine Energy Converters…In September 2008, the company installed the energy converters 3 miles off the coast of northern Portugal. In mid-November 2008, all units were removed from the ocean when leaks were discovered…By March 2009, Agucadoura was taken offline indefinitely with about $13 million spent on the project [but]…In February, Pelamis won an order from British renewable company E.ON for the next generation of Pelamis Marine Energy Converters…"

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"Despite the cancelation and scaling back of some projects following the economic crisis, there are still wave and tidal projects taking shape…In November, Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) won a $61 million grant from the Australian government for a utility-scale project…[T]he 19-MW project is expected to begin by the second quarter of 2010…OPT’s PowerBuoy floats freely with the rising and falling of offshore waves. The resulting motion is converted with a power take-off to drive a generator. The generated power is transmitted ashore via an underwater power cable…A 10-MW OPT power station would occupy about 30 acres of ocean space. The technology is scalable up to 100 MW…

"Irish tidal energy company OpenHydro won…[is developing] a 16-meter [1 MW] Open Center Turbine, Subsea Base and Installation Barge…[to be] on the seabed below the ocean waves. Invisible from the surface and silent, the turbines generate up to 1 MW of electricity… Oyster Wave Energy Converter [from Aquamarine Power] has been tested and deployed at the New and Renewable Energy Centre near Newcastle, England…to capture the energy found in near-shore waves…Wavegen…produces [an oscillating water column] shoreline wave energy conversion unit called Limpet…connected to Scotland’s power grid since 2000…The 18.5-kW modules are meant for use in breakwaters, coastal defenses, land reclamation schemes and harbor walls…"