Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
wind farm on their island, but have accepted a project designed by the
Wavegen company for one of their bays.
However, ocean power has drawbacks. The biggest is the very power of
the sea - the capacity of storms to destroy man's attempts to harness its
energy. The designers of wave and tidal technologies have to strike a very
difficult balance. On the one hand, they have to design machines that in
contrast to ships or offshore oil rigs will in normal weather absorb maxi-
mum impact from waves and tides, in order to extract maximum energy
from the ocean. On the other hand, they have to ensure that their wave
and tidal machines stand up to storms or very rough weather.
This safety priority is a concern with a precedent in wind turbines,
which are designed to stop generating during extreme storms to preserve
their electronics and machinery (as well as to avoid overloading the grid).
Conditions at sea, however, can be even rougher (because of the greater
density of water) and designers of wave and tidal power machines have to
build them so that the machines absorb less energy as waves get bigger or
as currents get stronger. As a result, ocean power development is probably
twenty years behind that of wind or solar power. Today there are many
theoretical prototypes for tidal or wave machines, but no settled agree-
ment on the best design for manufacturers to focus on.
One reason why ocean power development lags behind other forms of
renewables is that it is a minority activity among the nations of the world.
Some countries are land-locked, while others are “cursed” with relative
calmness in the waters around them. Of the dozen countries actively
pursuing ocean energy, the UK is probably the most blessed with ocean
energy resources.
Britain is an
island sand-
wiched between
the Atlantic Ocean
and North Sea. It
is largely exposed
to the full impact
of Atlantic break-
ers that have had
some three thou-
sand miles to be
whipped up by the
prevailing westerly
winds. The North
One of Wavegen's turbine's in situ in Scotland.
