Aguçadoura in Portugal running on “wave power”
by admin
Off the coast of Portugal something remarkable has been happening for the last few months. Electricity is being generated by the movement of the ocean. Currently, the Aguçadoura wave farm consists of three P1-A Pelamis machines which generate 2.25MW of electricity, enough to supply 1,500 homes with clean, renewable power.
According to alternative-energy-news.info,
The Agucadoura station will open another 25 Pelamis units later on, thus generating 21MW of power. They will save 60,000 tons of CO2 per year compared to a conventional fossil fuel plant. Humankind has realized that ocean waves can prove to be good alternative energy resources.
For the Portuguese, ocean waves might end up being a GREAT alternative energy resource. When one considers the powerful Atlantic waves that continiously lap at Portugal’s shore, it’s hard not to get excited about the potential. Indeed, power-technology.com estimates that “wave power could make up to 30% of the country’s gross domestic product by 2050.” And startup costs are about half that of wind power and a quarter the cost of solar startups.
Here’s an animation demonstrating the principal:
And here’s a few photos:
What do you think?
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