Wave Treader: Joining Wind and Marine Wave Power
20 March 2009
Green Ocean Energy Ltd, an Aberdeen based renewable energy company, is currently developing a device called Wave Treader which will allow to combine in an innovative way two green energy technologies, wind power and sea wave power.

The machine is an upgrade of a previous project for the production of energy from marine waves and has been modified to be mounted on the foundation of an offshore deep water wind turbine.
The structure is made up of two steel arms, on the opposite sides of the turbine's column, with a buoyant element at each end. The motion transmitted by the waves to the floating bodies is harvested by hydraulic cylinders. The resulting pressurization of the hydraulic fluid spins hydraulic motors and then electric generators. The arms will be able to shift vertically to follow the tide excursion and to rotate to be aligned with the direction of the waves.
The electricity (approximately 500 KW for each Wave Treader machine) will be exported back to the shore through the same cables used by the wind turbines.
A full size prototype should be ready for offshore testing in 2010.

If applied, this solution would provide the opportunity to share the infrastructure costs of offshore wind turbines thus enhancing the energy productivity of a given sea unit."
 

SD Community

Sino-Italian
Sustainable
Development
Community

Isola di San Servolo
30100 Venice
ITALY

T +39 041 2719511
F +39 041 2719510
E sdcommunity@univiu.org