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Turbine marks advance for wave power

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Published Date: 31 July 2008
A MAJOR step was taken yesterday towards establishing a wave power station off Lewis.
Jim Mather, the energy minister, started a 100-kilowatt wave turbine at Wavegen's Limpet facility on Islay, the world's first commercial-scale, grid-connected wave energy plant.

The turbine was developed with support from the Scottish Government's Wave and Tidal Energy Support scheme.

Its start-up is a boost for the Siadar Wave Energy Project under development by Npower Renewables on Lewis, which will involve 40 such turbines.

It will use waves in Siadar Bay to generate up to 4 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply the average annual needs of 1,500 homes on Lewis and Harris, a fifth of the population.

If approved, building work could start next year and take about 18 months, creating up to 50 construction jobs. A breakwater will be built about 350 metres from the shore.





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  • Last Updated: 30 July 2008 10:15 PM
  • Source: The Scotsman
  • Location: Edinburgh
 
1

Honest Opinion 2,

Clamecy 31/07/2008 08:38:13
Good news ar last. As an old f*rt, I recall that an experimental wave powered contra-rotating rotor/generator chamber was constructed some 30 years ago or more. I also think it was on Islay - but I'm not certain. Anyway, sopmeone in the know might kindly inform us what happened in the interim to delay this development until today's report. Finally, Scotland may benefit from such developments in many locations, given the required investment. Lets go>>>>
2

DocScooter,

31/07/2008 11:12:40
wave and tidal has had a slow start and there is much still to be done.
If the UK and regional goverments support the industry correctly (as they failed to do with wind in the early days, Denmark and Germany were the winners) we could see a new flouishing UK industry with technical leadership for a potentially large world market. We would also see another excellent form of renewable energy replacing existing fossil generation within the UK
Lets all get behind this technology for the future benifit of employment, revenue and climate change.
3

Neil,

Glasgow 31/07/2008 11:42:29
The story would be better if it said how much the "with support from" amounted to. Since this generator is on Isly presumably being connected to the national grid is not an option so that this may indeed be competitive in its location. Whether it would be in Lewis is a different matter.

 

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