Pelamis Wave Energy Project
Pelamis Wave Energy Project
Find out more about the 2.25MW Pelamis Wave Energy Project
waveOcean Power Delivery Ltd have developed a pioneering commercial
wave power generator which has been successfully installed off the northern coast of
Portugal near the town of Povoa de Varzim.
Built in the Camcal factory on the Isle of Lewis, the sea snake-like device is made up of a series of three semi-submerged cylinders linked by hinged joints.
The motion of each hinge is resisted by
hydraulic rams driving generators which produce electricity. The power conversion units in each
Pelamis P-750 cylinder generates up to 750kW of electricity. A total of 31 P-750's will be installed by the end of 2007 in a project which will provide around 23MW of
wave power electricity to the Portuguese national grid. By 2050 30% of Portugal's electricity needs could be met with wave power.
Pelamis Efficiency
A device which extracted all of the energy from the waves on which it
swims would quickly be destroyed. Therefore, in order to survive many years, only a small portion of the available
wave energy can usually be converted into electricity.
Work is currently being undertaken at the
University of Edinburgh to find the means to increase the efficiency of the Pelamis without reducing its survivability. This has included research using
genetic algorithms - computer programs which model the process of
natural selection and
evolution - to develop a
Pelamis which
swims on the surface in a different way depending on the speed and size of the waves passing beneath it. By developing an
active control system for Pelamis, much higher outputs of electricity could be possible.
Article Last Modified: 14:57, 24th Apr 2007
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