Harnessing the power of ocean waves for energy, The Aguçadoura project is located three miles off the Protuguese coast. The project, the world's first commercial wave farm, began operating on September 23rd, and will initially consist of three Pelamis Wave Energy Converters that will generate a total of 2.25 megawatts of power, enough to power 1500 homes. Phase 2 and completion of the project will include another 28 Pelamis converters, increasing generating capacity to 22.5 megawatts. This should provide enough energy for about 15,000 Portuguese homes and displace about 60,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions each year.
The wave converters, which are also known as "sea snakes" are fastened to the sea bed and use a system that allows them to float into oncoming waves. They are made of a four long sections linked with hinged "power modules." The movement of the converter with the waves allows for power to be extracted from the motion of the joints, or "power modules."
Currently, the cost of setting up a wave farm is too expensive to be competitive (with this one coming in around a reported €8.5 million, or about 11.6 million USD), and anchoring the converters to the ocean floor is apparently something of a project in itself, with problems delaying the wave farm for over a year.
Update
Pelamis Wave Farm Shut Down, Temporarily?
Sources and Further Reading
PelamisWave
BBC News
ABB Group
October 9th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
Pretty cool - looks a lot less obtrusive than windmills (aka bird killers)!
October 10th, 2008 at 4:23 am
looks cool and practical, but everything depends on waves, what if the waves become too big and crush it? i think it's too expensive to experiment...
October 10th, 2008 at 6:26 am
Very interesting! A shame it's not cost effective. Hopefully that will change in the future
Kevin also has a point. I wonder how they hold up in stormy weather?
October 11th, 2008 at 8:15 am
Although the cost for setting up the "Sea Snakes" is too expensive at this moment, but I'm sure that it will become one of the popular energy producers in the near future, once the price is becoming more competitive...
October 12th, 2008 at 1:55 am
They are interesting, but I bet they are much more expensive than wind turbines. They must be really expensive to fix and I imagine the ocean current and salt water really beat them down.
Still though, very cool if they can become more cost effective.
Joe
October 12th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
yes.. i agree, what if wave is too big and destroy the whole thing?
October 15th, 2008 at 7:57 am
Yeah I agree with the others. It seems a bit unreliable and doesn't look like it could hold up to too much weather. Water energy is definitely a viable option for the future as is wind and solar.
October 20th, 2008 at 12:38 am
This type of thinking is where the world's governments should all be putting their development dollars. It's the upfront effort, even when the economics don't line up, that will pay dividends in the years to come.
October 20th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
Re: their reliability, the units are designed to withstand strong waves and forces from the water, but I don't know how much they would be able to withstand. I suppose time will tell.
October 25th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Seems like it should be called the Anaconda Project, for corny pun points
October 27th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
Air Jordans said:
You crack me up
January 19th, 2009 at 8:10 am
yes.. i agree, what if wave is too big and destroy the whole thing? then you waste a tones of money
March 18th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
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