The company Oceanlinx based in Australia has unveiled a new wave power plant that will now be tested for a year. According to a press release, the plant “Green Wave” is the first of its type.

Simple and Scalable

One device can generate 1 MW and if all tests go well the plan is to scale up the power to 10 MW. To put 1 MW in some perspective, this would supply approximately 1000 homes.

The plant construction is built on a foundation of reinforced concrete placed directly on the seabed at a depth of about ten meters (33 feet). Its weight is about 3,000 tons and implies that no additional anchoring is required. Neither is there any need for groundwork.

This wave power plant is based on a very simple principle. When the water rises and falls, air is compressed in a chamber that drives turbines which generate electricity.

The turbine can be used for both generating powers to the grid and also operate as a desalination plant. Maintenance costs are supposed to be very low according to the company. The price of the power plant and the estimated cost per kWh is yet to be presented.

The project is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) Emerging Renewables Program, with a 4,4 million dollar funding.

Wave Power is Reliant

One advantage of wave power is that it can be placed at any locations where the sea is always moving and the power plant would generate electricity 24 hours a day, every day around the year.

Compared to solar and wind power that depends on the weather and the time of day (year, for where wintertime equals a weaker sun). Also, since most humans and megacities live and are situated along the coastlines of the Earth, the generated power would be close to its would-be consumers.

See this list for many more wave power plants and different solutions.

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http://oceanlinx.com/technology/products/greenwave
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