Pelamis - wave energy converter

Have you ever imagined that you could take electrical energy from the sea? That’s right my friends, the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter is a hi-tech device that uses the motion of ocean surface waves to create electricity. The first prototype was officially installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney, Scotland, on 28 of September 2007. The first industrial wave farm using this technology has being installed during the rest of 2007 on the Portuguese coast, precisely near the city of Póvoa de Varzim. This wave farm uses three Pelamis P-750 machines with a capacity of 2.25 megawatts. It is expected to be prolonged sooner or later to provide enough power for 1,500 households.

The Pelamis device consists on a series of semi-submerged cylindrical sections correlated by hinged joints. The wave induced relative motion of these sections is resisted by hydraulic rams which pump high pressure oil through hydraulic motors via smoothing hydraulic accumulators. The hydraulic motors drive electrical generators to generate electricity. Power from all the joints is fed down to a single cable to a junction on the sea bed. This devices can be connected together and linked to shore through a single seabed cable.

source & image:

pelamiswave.com

en.wikipedia.org