![]() AbuBakr Bahaj, professor of sustainable energy at the UK University of Southampton and editor-in-chief of the International Marine Energy Journal, says that because waves are in constant flux and move in multiple directions and heights, devices must also be flexible and durable enough to both harness energy and handle heavy and constant motion. "It’s very difficult to capture a lot of energy," he said.ĭespite the success of the worm-like Pelamis Wave Power energy converter - the first wave-based generator worldwide to be connected to the national grid in 2004 before the project went into administration a decade later - Bahaj explains that wave energy is currently being perfected at a reduced scale to remotely power smaller coastal communities. Of the countless wave generator prototypes designed and tested in the last 20 years, very few have reached commercial scale - despite much promise. ![]() "Those of us involved have had to reinvent ourselves."įor technical reasons, wave energy itself has proven difficult to harness. "The industry kind of hit a wall," said Ian Masters, professor of marine energy at the University of Swansea in Wales. But tidal and wave energy lost significant momentum in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis. The exterior of an Orbital tidal turbine at the Orkney tidal test site Image: Orbital Marine Power The long road to harnessing marine powerīringing a renewable energy source like ocean energy to market has, as with wind and solar, demanded extensive research and development. One Scottish ocean energy company, Orbital Marine Power, has been testing tidal stream technologies that are ready to go large-scale, including a giant turbine capable of powering over 1,700 homes. With the first "O2" turbine due to be deployed this year at Orkney's European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), and another to follow in 2023, it is one of several commercial marine energy farms that could contribute up to a fifth of the UK's power needs. More are being expanded and plugged into the UK grid. Though the Orkney archipelago off the northern Scottish coast is only home to about 22,000 people, it has become a global hub for harnessing a boundless renewable energy source: the ocean.įor two decades, Orkney's fast-flowing tidal inlets and coastlines battered by ocean swells have been test sites for fledgling wave and tidal stream energy prototypes.
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