March 17th, 2007
This is an artist's perspective of a wave energy farm feautring the Pelamisa semi-submerged, articulated structure composed of cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints that produce power by harnessing the movement of waves. Developed by Ocean Power Delivery Limited of the United Kingdom, the Pelamis, which looks like a snake (well, Pelamis really is a sea-surface snake) had been tested in the Irish coast and had been found successful!!! With that, the British government announced a 4-million pound grant to start-up what would be, the country's first wave farm!
But nothing is more thrilling than seeing the technology (and we can only imagine the intricacies of this contraption) and you may get a glimpse of that here or visit Ocean Power's website here.
March 25th, 2007 at 12:14 pm
Just a bit more info on the the Pelamis: It is a semi-submerged, articulated structure composed of cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints. The wave-induced motion of these joints is resisted by hydraulic rams, which pump high-pressure oil through hydraulic motors via smoothing accumulators. The hydraulic motors drive electrical generators to produce electricity. Power from all the joints is fed down a single umbilical cable to a junction on the seabed. Several devices can be connected together and linked to shore through a single seabed cable.
This device is known as a “point absorber” and can effectively focus energy from a wide area by interacting with an area of waves much larger than its physical size. As it is flexibly moored, it swings head-on into the incoming waves and can therefore span successive wave crests.