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Aquamarine’s Oyster wave energy converter comes into action

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Aquamarine Power, a multi-technology company, specializing in marine energy conversion, has come up with a new technology to produce electricity from deep waves of the ocean. Aquamarine Power recently confirmed that it has successfully tested Oyster wave energy converter to pump and export electricity into the grid at the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) near Newcastle. Ediburgh-based Aquamarine power (half of which is owned by Scottish & Southern Energy) is now confident that the Oyster can deliver electricity on a commercial scale. It is expected that by this summer the full-scale machine will be installed at the European Marine Centre in Orkney. A single Oyster can deliver up to a half megawatt of power. However, a farm of Oysters is capable of hundreds of megawatts of output.

How the Oyster works

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An oscillating Wave Surge Converter is placed offshore in a depth of about 10-12 meters. When the waves move, the double acting pistons pushes the seawater upwards at a very high pressure where it is converted into power with the help of hydroelectric generator. Due to its location, it is easily accessible for maintenance. The coast of Orkney will have the first prototype deployed this summer and that will confirm whether high tides and the abnormal weather patterns can be transformed into power.

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How green is the Oyster

Oyster can deliver more than 170 KW of electricity from a single pumping cylinder, proving that a full-scale device can produce more than 350 KW of electricity with two pumping cylinders. The uniqueness of this device lies in the fact that it can generate electricity in still sea conditions, with no waves in the ocean as such and even continues to generate electricity in the worst sea conditions. According to the company, the highest point to hit the power should be around 300-600 KW, depending on the unit’s configuration and location.

Benefits

Aquamarine is developing a technology that is eco-friendly in terms of it design, maintenance and operation. Further, it is silent, contains no toxic substances and does not require any other substance apart from the sea around it. Aquamarine, along with Airtricity, the renewable division of Scottish and southern energy, is looking forward to deploy the Oyster at sites capable of hosting 1,000 megawatts of marine energy by 2020.

Via: Greenbang

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