sonnesama (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

How does this system reacts when there is a storm???

dillerfyr (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

I love you :-)

markulevski (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

these idea's will help world to have clean and green energy. i vote for this energy.

larsjohnny (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

(continued ...) I doubt not that these technologies will work but I think that O&M cost will be prohibitive. And capital cost, too, with the limited device size profit will be eaten up by investment in subsea cabling and mooring systems.

larsjohnny (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

I my view wave energy converters that works by the waves moving floaters etc have a number of disadvantages: first they extract energy from extremely power movements and about 5 million times per year. Second they need to be in resonance with waves to work and thus have a relatively narrow bandwidth were it works efficiently. And last but probably most important: when it has to be in resonance to work efficiently it is limited in physical size and thus power output per device.

larsjohnny (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

You are of course right and we have these figures in our business plan. With the support schemes (there you have the government again...) for wave energy in UK and Portugal we can give our costumers (wave energy farm operators) an competitive ROI (in European terms; generally lower than in the US, in my experience at least). But they'll also have to take a significant risk with a completely new technology.

larsjohnny (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

I disagree. This technology will be located far from your coast line (minimum of 3-5 miles but probably 10 - 15 miles) and with a freeboard of max 7 meter you'll not be able to see it from the coast. So; we have been thinking of nothing but the environment since the very start our project. I agree that an untouched and unbroken coast line shall be preserved.

larsjohnny (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

True, this pilot plant is large and power output small. But as we scale up (both the physical size and the wave climate) power output growth with the power of 3.5 and construction cost far less. The technology is viable for a wave farm operator (and profitable for) us at a 7MW unit size with the support schemes in UK and Portugal. The weigth would be a problem if built in steel, but we will shift to pre-cast concrete element construction.

bellaggio1770 (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Great idea, I hope your invention will become part of the energy generation in the future. However, I am a little intrigued about the size and weight of the product. The test unit looks massive, and produces not that much power after all. Cost vs. energy output comparison might still be necessary for it to be implementable.

youteletub (November 30, 1999 at 12:00 am)

Congratulations. You think just like the oil companies. "We need power, achieve it at all costs."