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Pelamis Wave Energy Converter is a technology that uses the motion of ocean surface waves to create electricity.

The machine is made up of connected sections which flex and bend as waves pass; it is this motion which is used to generate electricity. Developed by the Scottish company Pelamis Wave Power (formerly Ocean Power Delivery), the Pelamis became the worlds first wave machine to generate electricity into the grid from offshore wave energy, when it was connected to the UK grid in 2004.[1] Pelamis Wave Power have since gone to build and test four additional Pelamis machines. Three, first generation P1 machines which were tested in a farm off the coast of Portugal in 2009 and the first of a second generation of machines, the P2 started tests off Orkney in 2010.[2]

Pelamis Wave Power's Agucadoura Wave Farm is the world's first commercial wave energy project located five kilometre off the Agucadoura coast in Portugal. The farm started delivering 2.25MW produced by three Pelamis generators in September 2008. Pelamis Wave Power, earlier known as Ocean Power Delivery (OPD) supplied the first three Pelamis P-750 "advanced wave energy conversion technology" machines. Another 28 machines were planned as a part of phase 2 to generate 22.5MW for state-run power company Energias de Portugal. The first three generators, however, had to be towed back to the port after four months of commissioning because of technical problems. The global financial crunch of 2008 made financing of the re-installation of the generators even more difficult. The wave farm has since then been shut down. The order for the initial phase was worth 8.2m, funded by a Portuguese consortium led by Enersis. The project was expected to bring power ashore at Agucadoura, and provide electricity to 1,500 homes using the national state run electricity grid system. On completion of both the phases, the project was expected to meet the average electricity demand of more than 15,000 Portuguese households and displace above 60,000 carbon dioxide emissions tons per year. Technology Wave energy research was pioneered by "Salters Duck", developed by Professor Stephen Salter of the University of Edinburgh. With an efficiency of around 90%, the duck moves up and down with the waves. It is still a laboratory prototype, and was put on hold because of technical issues and a lack of support by the UK government. It did, however, lead to the development of the Pelamis. "Each module contains a complete electro-hydraulic power generation system, with a single seabed cable linking several devices to the shore. " The Pelamis is cylindrical, with four main tube segments linked by hinged joints. Each segment measures 120m long and 3.5m wide, and weighs 750 tons when fully ballasted. The machine operates semi-submerged, extracting power from the wave-induced motion of the hinged joints. This power is resisted by hydraulic rams, which pump high-pressure oil through smoothing accumulators to hydraulic motors. Each module contains a complete electrohydraulic power generation system, with a single seabed cable linking several devices to the shore. The machine is held in position by a mooring system combining floats and weights that prevent the mooring cables from becoming taut. This maintains enough restraint to keep the Pelamis positioned but allows the machine to swing head on to oncoming waves. The Pelamis is ideally moored in waters around 5060m deep (often 510km from the shore). This gives access to large swell waves but avoids the costs of a longer submarine cable. The first full-scale pre-production Pelamis prototype was tested at the European Marine Energy Centre in Orkney. The design was independently verified by WS Atkins according to (DNV) offshore codes and standards. The modules for Portugal were originally fabricated in Stonehaven by Ross Deeptech, an experienced offshore fabricator. After installation of the electro-hydraulic power take-off systems was complete, the modules were transported to Lewis. There, they joined the main tube segments made by Camcal, a specialist in large cylindrical structures. The component parts were shipped in March 2006 to the Port of Peniche for final assembly, commissioning and installation at a site 5km off the coast of northern Portugal, near Pvoa de Varzim. Portugal power market "On completion of both the phases, the project was expected to meet the average electricity demand of more than 15,000 Portuguese households." Wave power is perhaps Portugals most promising form of renewable energy. Large, powerful waves come in from the Atlantic over a long coastline.

Estimates predict that wave power could make up to 30% of the country's gross domestic product by 2050. Wave also has the potential to become one of the lowest cost forms of electricity generation, with opening costs now around half those of wind energy and a quarter those of solar PV. The Portuguese government has established a feeder market that pays a premium for wave-generated electricity. This is the approach that led Denmark and Germany to kick-start the wind industry, which now has a turnover of over 12bn/year and employs 60,000 people worldwide. The worldwide market for wave power is estimated at 500bn. The EU-funded Agucadoura project was started in 2003, and is the result of over 20 years of research at Lisbon's Superior Technical Institute. The project was funded by a consortium headed by Portuguese renewable energy company Enersis. Enersis' controlling shareholder is Endesa, a Spanish multinational that holds over 60% of the company's shares.

Operation The Pelamis machine consists of a series of semi-submerged cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints. As waves pass along the length of the machine, the sections move relative to one another. The wave-induced motion of the sections is resisted by hydraulic cylinders which pump high pressure oil through hydraulic motors via smoothing hydraulic accumulators. The hydraulic motors drive electrical generators to produce electricity. Power from all the joints is fed down a single umbilical cable to a junction on the sea bed. Several devices can be connected and linked to shore through a single seabed cable. Principles The Pelamis is an attenuating wave energy converter designed with survivability at the fore. The Pelamis's long thin shape means it is almost invisible to hydrodynamic forces, namely inertia, drag, and slamming, which in large waves give rise to large loads. Its novel joint configuration is used to induce a tunable cross-coupled resonant response. Control of the restraint applied to the joints allows this resonant response to be turned-up in small seas where capture efficiency must be maximised or turned-down to limit loads and motions in survival conditions.[3

Worldwide Pelamis Wave Power has also expressed an interest in installing Pelamis devices at the Wave hub development off the north coast of Cornwall, in England, in the Pacific ocean off the coast of Tillamook, Oregon. What is wave energy? Waves are generated by the passage of wind across the surface of the sea. Energy is transferred from the wind to the waves. Waves travel vast distances across the ocean and at great speed and the energy is concentrated near the water surface. The energy within a wave is proportional to the square of the wave height. Therefore a two-meter high wave has four times the power of a one-meter high wave. The longer and stronger the wind blows over the surface of the sea, the higher, longer, faster and more powerful the sea is. The Benefits Offshore wave energy has the potential to be one of the most environmentally benign forms of electricity generation with a minimal visual impact from the shore. Although wave energy is a form of concentrated wind energy, as it has often travelled over large distances it is regularly out of phase with the local wind conditions. Wave energy can therefore help to balance output variability

from other renewable sources and maximise the efficient use of the electricity networks. Wave energy is also more predictable than many other forms of renewable energy, such as wind or solar, and can be forecast accurately up to five days in advance. Wave energy is clean and renewable! It is one of the last renewable energy forms which mankind has yet to harness, and its potential is huge. The technical and economically recoverable resource around the UK alone has been estimated to be between 50-90TWh per year or around 14-26%[1] of the current UK electricity demand. Wave energy could play a major part in the worlds efforts to combat climate change, potentially displacing 1 2 billion tonnes of CO2 per annum from conventional fossil fuel generating sources. Such installations would also provide many employment opportunities in construction, operations and maintenance. As an indigenous resource that will never run out, wave power would provide the UK with security of supply. The Pelamis Wave Energy Converter utilizes changes in ocean surfaces, or waves, to generate electricity. Pelamis machines are designed to float semi-submerged in offshore waters that reach depths of 50 m or greater, typically located 210 km offshore. Multiple cylindrical sections are connected by hinged joints. As waves pass by the cylindrical machine, the machine bends at the multiple hinges. As the hinges bend, the motion is resisted by the cylinders, which simultaneously push fluid into accumulators at an accelerated rate, resulting in high pressure. The energy that is absorbed by this motion is then converted into electricity. The cylinder resistance can also be altered to increase or decrease energy generation as waves increase or decrease in size. While all of the energy produced by the waves cannot be converted into electricity, as some is naturally lost during the conversion process, the majority of the wave energy can be converted.

Pelamis and the Environment In addition to efficiently generating electricity from offshore waves, the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter is environmentally friendly. In fact, the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter is potentially one of the most environmentally benign forms of electricity generation in the world, according to the Pelamis Wave Power website. One of the factors that contributes to the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter's small environmental footprint is the fact that the machine remains stationary during performance, which increases its efficiency, because the kind of marine growth that causes drag on a moving vessel is negligible for the machine. Its cylindrical shape also reduces drag. The Pelamis Wave Energy Converters semi-submerged design helps to limit the use of anti-foulants (chemicals used to slow marine growth), which can potentially be harmful to the environment. Due to its unique design, the Pelamis Wave Energy Converter also requires minimal onsite construction and has a minimal impact on the nearby shoreline. The Future of Wave Energy The wave energy that is present just around the British Isles is three times the current UK electricity demand, according to the Pelamis Wave Power website. However, due to technical and economic constraints, the recoverable resource is approximately 5090 terawatt hours per year, which is estimated to be between 14% and 26% of the current demand. There are opportunities to utilize the technology around the globe. Any area that has an average of more than 15 kilowatts per meter each year could benefit from wave energy while still keeping cost to a minimum. Therefore, many areas could use wave energy conversion technology as a cost-effective, viable natural resource to generate electricity. France, Spain, Portugal, and Norway all could possibly benefit from the wave energy generated from the western seaboard of Europe. Additionally, Australia, North America, South America, Southern Africa, and New Zealand could also benefit from the wave energy off of the coastlines of the Pacific Ocean, which is believed to

be very energetic possibly more so than any other area. Therefore, the global impact of this technology is potentially immense. Floating on top of the water, the Pelamis device is the sea snake of ocean-power generation. It consists of four big cylinders strung together by hydraulic joints. As the tubes bob up and down on the waves, their movement pumps the joints, moving oil through hydraulic motors. Those motors drive generators to produce electricity. Recent improvements in the design give the device's joints universal mobility. The initial joint worked like a knee jointit could only generate electricity from simple up-and-down or side-to-side movements. The new design acts more like the ball-and-socket joint of your shoulder. It can make electricity whether the segments are moving up and down, from side to side, or in any other direction. That increases efficiency at turning waves into energy. Each Pelamis snake is 600 feet long and 13 feet wide and generates up to 0.75 megawattsthat's enough to power about 500 homes for a year. Past projects have generated up to 2.25 megawatts, and Pelamis plans to set up similar ones at several sites in Scotland. dvantages Low cost of investment is less It also displace above 2000 carbon dioxide emissions tons per year. Avoids pollution The Pelamis has a similar output to a modern wind turbine. When complete, the project should meet the average electricity demand of more than 15,000 Portuguese households. There is going to be only starting investment. Minimum environmental impact. Plenty of space plus high 'power-density'. Survivability - 100 year wave 100% available technology Hydraulic Power Take Off Power smoothing Tunable Maximum site flexibility Minimum work on-site Off-site maintenance

dis advantages Disturbance or destruction of marine life (including changes in the distribution and types of marine life near the shore) Possible threat to navigation from collisions due to the low profile of the wave energy devices above the water, making them undetectable either by direct sighting or by radar. Also possible is the interference of mooring and anchorage lines with commercial and sport-fishing. Degradation of scenic ocean front views from wave energy devices located near or on the shore, and from onshore overhead electric transmission line

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