December 5th, 2007
The wave and its powerful-looking future
The “sea serpent” use for generating electricity, the Pelamis. Courtesy Pelamis Corp.
Among the European nations there seems to be a competition to become the greenest. Flat and windy, Denmark has turned to wind-generated electricity. Germany has pursued solar technology. So has Spain. The French are focused on nuclear power plants and plants that can be used for biodiesel, especially rapeseed. Iceland has the world’s most developed goethermal power system.
What about the United Kingdom? They have some oil, coal and wood. Well, the British appear to be doing what they have done since man first floated a boat. They’re turning to the oceans that surround their small islands. We’ve blogged about some of their plans to use tidal energy. Now they appear to be headed toward world leadership in developing tech for using wave power.
There’s one UK company that’s already supplying the hardware for the world’s largest existing wave power installation. It’s off the coast of Portugal, a nation without coal or oil. That wave farm is expected to begin generation within weeks. To learn about Pelamis, click here. The software tech is prodigious as well, and is supplied by Dassault Systemes which specializes in high tech military apps among other things.
Now comes word that the largest proposed wave farm is planned for the Orkney Islandsnorth of the Scottish mainland, a place that gets far more than its share of high wave action.
The U.S. is not totally becalmed. Tiny Rhode Island (that’s just south of Boston if you are following along on the map) has just signed a deal for two offshore wave farms. Those folks on Block Island seem mighty pleased, thinking this is the biggest deal since clipper ships rounded The Horn. The tech for this deal will come from Aussie ocean power company, Oceanlinx.
Unlike Pelamis’s technology, Oceanlinx uses a wave driven turbine that can capture the energy of the rising and falling water level despite its irregularity.
A newsman since 1969, Harry Fuller has worked for CBS, ABC, CNBC Europe, CNET and was founding news director at TechTV. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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