A new wave - the Pelamis wave energy converter

[AlbertRoss99]

Load of old BOLLOCKS.

It would be lucky to last even 1 year in the ocean.

The whole wavepower industry is just a scam to hoover up money from gummints and dumb investors.

Maintenance costs are horrendous.

Waves are very inconsistent.

This piece of shit will fall to pieces just like the Mark 1.

Then it will be time to go to Mark 3...

Please send more MUNNY...

Coming real soon, promise!

LOAD OF OLD BOLLOCKS!!!!!

[T0B0KKE]

These snakes don't work. They eventually break and they are not very cheap to maintain.

[talkingenergy]

Hi @T0B0KKE and thanks for your comment. The test results from the 1st generation machine were really encouraging, and this sea trial of the 2nd generation wave power machine will tell us more about its performance and how well it survives in harsh sea conditions. We think that this technology, together with other wave and tidal devices, could play a key role in meeting the UK's energy needs.

[T0B0KKE]

@talkingenergy Ok that's interesting. In shallow sea areas you're going to use offshore wind power and outside of the continental platform these ones. Can you give us an estimate of how much per kW of installed power these generators are going to cost? If we are talking about prices approximately equal to FV panels then it will be very hard to penetrate the market. Also another question: When are we going to see wave energy like we see today for example inland wind power? Thanks for your time.

[talkingenergy]

@T0B0KKE Great questions. I'll find out the answers and get back to you.

[T0B0KKE]

@talkingenergy I've attended to a conference about the Great Britain's energy grid and they pointed out that wave energy will start to have an important role in 10-15 years from now. I'd like to see that. :D

[JohnCBriggs]

@T0B0KKE I have spend a lot of time looking at wave power and it is safe to say that no one knows the cost per KW of installed capacity. At the moment, these machines are a prototype level of manufacturing so the cost is high. However, initial estimates show the machines to be somewhere between the cost of PV and wind right now. However, costs come down with installed capacity of technology, so perhaps it will compete with wind.

[talkingenergy]

@T0B0KKE Sorry to have taken a while to get back to you. Re. the future of wave energy, we're hoping to see marine technology on a similar scale to wind by 2020.

[talkingenergy]

@T0B0KKE Re. your q on cost. It’s not yet possible to say how much marine energy machines will cost per kW as the sector is still in its infancy, with many machines at the prototype stage. We would like to see marine technologies on a par with other renewable forms of energy such as wind in the future.

[JohnCBriggs]

@T0B0KKE Your comments are perhaps a little short sited. Pelamis has operated three machines off the cost of Portugal. They ran well for about one year and then had a problem. Pelamis claims to have fixed the problem, but the developer went bankrupt so we don't know the outcome. I would say for a first generation machine, the Pelamis did well. The only way to know about the reliability is to fix the problems and try again. This is what PWP is doing.

[T0B0KKE]

@JohnCBriggs I might have expressed myself wrong. I want to see Wave Energy being an important source of renewable power! I really do! I've been searching on the web on this topic and it appears that currenty there are many different approaches on this subject. One of those were wave energy produced by some sort of spheres that are placed in sea and they claim that they are better than snakes because they are less susceptible to mechanical stresses.

Is Pelamis also working on that?

[JohnCBriggs]

@T0B0KKE There are many, many different approaches for sure. Pelamis is only working on the snake idea, but for sure, they are further along in their development then other people. I think the "sphere" approach that you are talking about is some sort of "wavebob" or heaving buoy. There are many people working on that. These also can have mechanical issues because there is a sliding contact between the buoy and some reference, e.g. a larger buoy.

[talkingenergy]

@JohnCBriggs @T0B0KKE If you're interested in knowing more about Pelamis there's lots of useful info on the Pelamis Wave website. There isn't a template for what wave and tidal power technology looks like yet, unlike wind farms and turbines, so anything goes at this stage of development.

[JohnCBriggs]

@talkingenergy @T0B0KKE One other device making good progress is the Aquamarine Power "Oyster 2".