Wave Power Development

By: EconomyWatch   Date: 30 April 2010

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Wave Power Projects in US, Scotland and China

The US issued its first license in the renewable energy sector for a wave energy project in 2007. In 2008, Scotland’s Siadar Wave Energy project continued its development phase, while China is set to approve development of proposed sea wave power plants throughout the country.

As an emerging source of renewable energy, wave power can be put to various uses, such as generating electricity and the desalination of water. Current developments in wave power generation technologies are visible across several countries. However, most nations continue to face challenges in this sector as difficulties often arise in converting wave energy into electrical energy. Sometimes, the construction of conversion equipments may be subject to salt water corrosion and sea storms and increase the overall cost of generating electricity.

Serious attempts are being undertaken by researchers and scientists from countries such as Scotland, USA, Australia, Spain and Portugal. These countries continue experimenting with new equipments to harness ocean wave energy as well as efforts to attract sizeable foreign investments.

In December 2007, Finavera Renewables secured a license from the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for the construction of a pilot project (the Makah Bay Offshore Wave Pilot project) in the state of Washington. The license was the first of its kind to be issued by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the context of a renewable energy project in the country. The proposed project is to comprise mooring-anchoring and electrical connection system as well as four 250 kilowatt wave energy conversion buoys.

On July 30, 2008, the construction of sea wave power plants was proposed in China by a company called S.D.E. The proposal was to attract investors from Hong Kong and China and to establish two joint venture companies by S.D.E., along with its potential investors, to build the initial model in the Guangzhou province. S.D.E. estimates that wave energy will be able to supply four times more energy per square meter than wind. This means that wave energy could be harnessed to supply 500 times more energy than the total global electricity requirement. The proposed model of establish sea wave power plants throughout China, is subject to approval by the nation’s government.

On August 12, 2008, Scotland’s Energy Minister, Jim Mather, launched a 100 kilowatt wave turbine at Islay, which is hailed as the world’s first commercial scale, grid connected wave energy power plant. The start up will be a definite boost for the much talked about Siadar Wave Energy project that is currently in its development phase and will involve around 40 of such wind turbines. The waves at Siadar Bay will be used to generate 4 megawatt of electricity. This is expected to supply the average annual electricity requirements for 1,500 homes in the area comprising Lewis and Harris.


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