Blue metal floaters are affixed to a former World War II ammunition jetty along the Gibraltar coastline. These floaters move up and down with the gentle rise and fall of waves, converting wave energy into renewable power. Eco Wave Power, the innovator behind this technology, aims to repurpose human-built structures such as piers and breakwaters into clean energy generators.
Eco Wave Power utilizes blue floaters to convert the up and down movement of waves into electricity. The development team meticulously tailors each batch of floaters to suit the specific wave patterns of their installation. Smaller waves require a greater quantity of small floaters that can more easily move up and down, while larger waves can accommodate larger floaters, requiring fewer in number.
This is how they operate.
The floaters generate fluid pressure within accumulators, which are located on land and enclosed in large blue shipping containers. The fluid pressure, caused by the up and down motion of the waves, drives a hydraulic motor. The hydraulic motor, in turn, activates a generator. The electricity generated by the generator is converted into a usable form and sent to the power grid through an inverter.
Inside a land-based container of Eco Wave Power, the hydraulic pressure produced by the floaters is transformed into electrical energy for the power grid.
Eco Wave Power has a protective mechanism that allows the unit to lock itself in an upright position during high waves caused by storms. Once the storm has passed, it lowers back into the water autonomously.
Eco Wave Power asserts that its system, spanning from floater to grid, achieves an efficiency of approximately 50%, indicating that roughly half of the wave energy is effectively harnessed as electricity. To provide some perspective, this percentage surpasses the efficiency levels of typical solar panels (15% to 20%), wind turbines (20% to 40%), and average coal power plants (33%).
During a storm, floaters remain upright.
Eco Wave Power
Currently, the company is generating grid power on a regular basis at a few places and plans to expand this coverage. The first station connected to the grid was established in Gibraltar in 2016, and a second one is being completed at Jaffa Port in Tel Aviv, Israel. A third station in Los Angeles is scheduled to begin operation in early 2023.
The energy output per individual floater relies on the wave conditions of the specific location. According to Inna Braverman, the CEO and co-founder of Eco Wave Power, each floater installed in Jaffa has the capacity to generate up to 10 kWh, equivalent to powering approximately 10 households.
According to Braverman, the company has carried out several environmental surveys and determined that there has been no adverse impact on the environment. Additionally, the hydraulic fluid utilized within the system is biodegradable.
To witness these floating objects in motion, view the video.
