Wave hub

The Wave hub project is a wave power research project. The project will be developed approximately 10 miles off Hayle, the north coast of Cornwall, UK. The hub is a 'socket' sitting on the seabed for wave energy converters (WEC) to be plugged into; in the current proposals it will have connections to it from arrays of four kinds of wave energy converter. A cable from the hub to main land will take electrical power from the devices to the electric grid. The total capacity of the hub will be 20MWe. The estimated cost of the project is £28 million.

Wave Device Developers

A total of four wave device developers will connect their arrays into the Wave hub. This will allow the developers to transmit and sell their renewable electricity to the UK's electricity distribution grid. Each developer will be able to locate their devices in one quarter of the 3km by 1km rectangle allocated to the Wave hub. A sub-sea transformer will be provided with capacity to deliver up to a total of 20 MW of power into the local distribution network. Currently there are three wave device developers confirmed and one still in negotiation. The three confirmed developers are:

* Ocean Power Technologies Limited
* Fred Olsen Limited
* WestWave - which uses the Pelamis technology of Scottish company [http://www.pelamiswave.com Pelamis Wave Power] .

The one to be confirmed is:

* Oceanlinx

Ocean Power Technologies ltd

Ocean Power Technologies ltd. is a US based company.

Fred Olsen Limited

Fred Olsen Limited is originally from Oslo, Norway and started in the ship business. Recently they have expanded into offshore wind. "Fred Olsen Limited has developed a unique multiple point-absorber system for energy extraction from the waves. A number of floating buoys attached to a light and stable floating platform manufactured in composites converts the wave energy to electricity."

WestWave

This is a joint venture of E.ON and Ocean Prospect. They intend to install up to seven [ [http://www.pelamiswave.com/content.php?id=151 Westwave - PelamisWave ] ] Pelamis devices. "The Pelamis 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 that drive electrical generators to produce electricity." [http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/news/story?id=42977 Renewable Energy Access.com] ] Each Pelamis machine is rated at 750kW.

Other Information

Last month the South West RDA announced that it had approved £21.5 million of funding to construct Wave Hub, subject to UK Government and EU approval. The Department of Trade and Industry has also committed £4.5 million to the project.

Wave Hub could generate £76 million over 25 years for the regional economy. It would create at least 170 jobs and possibly hundreds more by creating a new wave power industry in South West England.

Wave Hub could generate enough electricity for 7,500 homes, saving 24,300 tonnes of carbon dioxide every year when displacing fossil fuels. This would support South West England’s target for generating 15 per cent of the region’s power from renewable sources by 2010.

References

External links

* [http://www.wavehub.co.uk/ Wave hub Official Website]
* [http://www.regensw.co.uk/press/news-read.asp?id=29 RegenSW News Article]
* [http://www.oceanpowertechnologies.com Ocean Power Technologies]
* [http://www.pelamiswave.com Pelamis Wave Power (Pelamis)]
* [http://www.oceanlinx.com/ Oceanlinx]
* [http://www.fredolsen-renewables.com/ Fred Olsen Renewables.com]