Irish companies set to ride wave of energy

Cross-border efforts are under way to develop a large-scale generator that produces electricity from waves.

The plan calls for a working prototype and a pilot plant before the end of next year. If the project "floats" we could be plugging into a new era of clean, renewable energy.

The main partners in the project include the Belfast engineering firm Harland and Wolff, the Marine Institute and duQuesne Environmental Ltd, a Dublin company.

Research support is being provided by a number of contractor companies and Irish universities on both sides of the Border, said Mr William Dick of duQuesne.

The device can capture the massive energy available in deep ocean sea swells and convert it into electricity, Mr Dick said. It is known as a wavebob, which sounds more like an annoying holiday camp employee than an engineering device that could change the way we produce electricity.

Initial patents for the unit were filed in 1997, but the workings of the wavebob remain confidential to protect the invention, according to Dr Mark White, programme manager for marine technology at the Marine Institute.

Offshore wind turbines might stand on platforms several miles off the west coast, but the wavebob could be placed any distance offshore, Mr Dick explained.

Shaped like a large metal cylinder, it would float vertically just under the surface and large numbers could be clustered together on "farms", similar to those used for land-based wind turbines.

"Wave energy is a huge resource," he said. "In theory, there is potential for a lot more than the ESB is generating."

Some areas were more promising than others, however. The seas off Antarctica could produce large amounts of electricity but were harsh and inaccessible. "The west of Ireland and Scotland is one of the better spots for wave energy on the whole globe."

Mr Dick estimates that a full-scale version of his device would produce between 0.5 and 1.5 megawatts of electricity, about the same output as the current generation of wind turbines. The Marine Institute carried out a study which identified 73 sites off the western seaboard where farms of wavebobs could be placed.

If fully developed, these sites could deliver about 13 per cent of the installed capacity of the ESB. The study also indicated that wave energy off our coasts could deliver power equivalent to 40 per cent of the ESB's output.

The stated EU target for renewable energy sources of all types is just 10 to 12 per cent.

Harland and Wolff will be involved in fabrication, servicing and deployment of the wavebob, Mr Dick said.

Companies such as ESIL and Trinity's campus company, Simtherg, are providing computer modelling and UCC is using its established wave research facility to study wave effects on wavebob designs.

The Minister for the Marine, Dr Woods, announced the project last week. "Our interest now is to see the whole concept developed and brought into practice," he said. "Wave energy is really at the very early stages," he added, although it had been highlighted as a "priority area" by the recent Forfas technology foresight study.

"We, of course, want to co-operate because we are neighbours," the Harland and Wolff CEO, Mr Per Nielsen, said. The company was attracted by more than a "nice" idea.

"We are also doing it because it makes sense," Mr Nielsen said.