Commercial Wavegen marine energy plant to be built in Spain

What its developers call the "first commercial breakwater wave energy plant" is to be built on the Spanish Atlantic coast for the Basque Energy Board, Ente Vasco de Energia.

The modestly-sized installation is to feature Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation's wave equipment, acquired in Siemens' purchase of Wavegen earlier this year.

The new plant in Mutriku, in Northern Spain, is to be based on Wavegen's Oscillating Water Column (OWC) technology, which has been successfully field tested in Scotland for seven years.

"Mutriku is a milestone in the history of wave energy," said Hubert Lienhard, President and CEO of Voith Siemens Hydro.

The new project will see the integration of 16 turbines into a new breakwater being constructed by the local government. Intended to supply green electricity to around 250 households with a rated power of nearly 300 kW, the plant is to be commissioned in the winter of 2008/2009.

"We continue to develop the technology and demonstrate its reliability under commercial operating conditions," said David Gibb, General Manager of Wavegen.

"We are already negotiating further projects in other countries."

In Wavegen's approach, an opening in the front of the breakwater allows the sea to rise and fall within a chamber. The motion compresses and decompresses an enclosed volume of air, which drives a Wells turbine and generator to produce electricity.

Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation is a division of the 130-year old Voith Group, a company with revenues of €3.7 billion and one of Europe's large family-owned companies.

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