Scotland Gives Wave Energy A Try

Scotland has a ferocious coastline with pounding surf. This would seem to make it a natural place for a wave energy platform. Starting in 2014, it will be.

The power of the waves is immense. On needs only to consider the horrific footage of tsunamis hitting Indonesia and Samoa to understand that energy moving through the ocean can reach simply staggering power levels. While we will never harness the power in tsunamis, we can look to the energy inherent in waves crashing along some of the prominent shorelines of the world.

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What do you think of when the shores of Scotland are mentioned? Waves pounding on rock cliff faces. The energy inherent in those crashing waves is an untapped resource. When people talk about renewable, clean energy, few mention wave power. The truth is they should because the technology is now here to tap it and Scotland is taking steps to do just that with Aegir.

What is Aegir? Well, technically it is the Norse name for the god of the sea. In relation to this article, however, it is a wave energy project being launched off the shore of the Shetland Islands of Scotland. The project is a joint venture between Pelamis and Vattenfall, two energy companies that are committing $100 million to the project.

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If successful, the project will supply a massive amount of energy to Scotland. It will feature 26 wave machines with each being 180 meters long. Cumulatively, the machines are expected to produce 200 megawatts of energy. This is enough to power 13,000 homes in Scotland for a full year.

Scotland represents a perfect development point for wave energy given its very active seas. The trick will be to see if the machines can take the pounding and keep producing energy year after year. If they can, we’ll be that much closer to making wave energy a viable part of the renewable energy pie.

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