Will wave power ever become a viable source of energy? Companies keep designing systems to harness the ocean’s vast renewable energy potential – but the same powerful forces that make the ocean an attractive source of alternative energy also work to destroy systems and make them too expensive to run and maintain.
Perhaps wave energy developer Aquamarine Power, which this week unveiled the design of its Oyster 2 wave energy converter, can overcome the ocean’s reticence to be harnessed. The Oyster 2, which will be built in Scotland this summer, incorporates many design improvements over its predecessor, Oyster 1, enabling it to
- produce more energy,
- be simpler to install and,
- theoretically, easier to maintain.
The new 800kW device will measure 26 meters by 16 meters and will deliver 250 per cent more power than the original Oyster 1 which was successfully deployed at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney last summer.
The company will begin deployment of three Oyster 2s at EMEC in summer 2011. All three devices will be linked to a single onshore 2.4 MW hydro-electric turbine. A small farm of 20 Oyster 2 devices would provide enough energy for more than 12,000 homes.
“This is a significant step forward for Aquamarine Power,” says company CEO Martin McAdam. “Our brilliant engineering and research team have taken all of the lessons learned through the design, manufacture, installation and operation of Oyster 1 and incorporated these into Oyster 2.
“The design concept remains exactly the same, but we have improved every element of that design, from the size and shape of the Oyster flap, to the hydraulic power take off and pipeline system,” McAdam says. “Oyster 2 has very few moving parts, and the hydraulic elements are modular, meaning they can be swapped in and out as maintenance is required.”
We’ll see.
source: aquamarine power press release
Related: previously on altCon
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(4.11.10) Aquamarine Oyster Wave Power Device
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