Irish Waves Generate Electricity

[jpak]

http://www.renewableaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=50311

Trials of a unique Irish ocean wave energy converter, the Wavebob, yielded exciting results this week with Wavebob Ltd's announcement that it's prototype device is now producing electricity.

"This is a giant leap forward for renewable energy production in Ireland. As an island in the middle of the energetic Atlantic Ocean, Ireland can be to wave-energy what Saudi Arabia is to oil. The more we exploit this unlimited natural resource, the better it will be, not just for the global environment, but also for the Irish consumers pocket." --Andrew Parish, CEO, Wavebob Ltd.

At full scale, each Wavebob device will be capable of producing in excess of one megawatt (MW) of electricity. With Irish Minister Eamon Ryan TD's strategy of having 500 MW of ocean energy installed by 2020, Wavebob Ltd. is now positioned to contribute significantly to Irish Government targets.

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[sakabatou]

1. Yes, this would be good

Once it's up and running.

[TheMadMonk]

2. Not the critter I thought it was.

Wavebob looks like it uses direct mechanical links and the movement of a hydraulic fluid to generate power. Without massive over-engineering, any "rigid" system can be smashed by a sufficiently angry ocean.

Visualise this if you can: A low profile float supporting a long cable, Strung along the bottom portion of this cable is a series of magnets and if necessary a weight at the bottom to keep the cable taut. Surrounding the magnets is a set of coils arranged in a vertical tube around the magnets.

As the float on the surface bobs up and down with swell and the tides, (small chop is damped out by inertia in the system) the magnets move through the coils generating an electric current.

Because the two parts are not physically connected to each other, the potential for them to be damaged by extreme events is very much reduced. Worst case scenario is that a magnet string is lifted free and has to be retrieved after the event has abated and even this could be guarded against.