Converting the huge energy stored in the ocean waves into electricity is one of the dreams of all aspiring nations across the world as it can replace fossil fuels and could be a solution to climate change to some extent.
A U.S. based firm M/S Oscilla Power Inc. which works on a project to untap the energy contained in the waves of Arabian Sea by setting up a floating wave energy device off the coast of Vizhinjam in Kerala, has inched a step closer to reality with the company starting the field trials of its first commercial-scale demonstration of the new wave energy technology- the Triton-C, off the coast of Hawaii, US.
Terming the Hawaii test of generating clean, renewable power from the waves of the Pacific Ocean as promising one, Tim Mundon, Ph.D, Chief Technology Officer, Oscilla Power™, Inc., US, told The Hindu “Our project in Kerala is progressing. We are currently working on a 1 MW design that is specific to the Indian environment. The wave energy system for the sea conditions off the coast of Kerala will be slightly different from our current 1MW Triton system which is designed for much more severe ocean conditions. However, it will share the same architecture.
“Our Hawaii test is going well. The system was shipped to Hawaii and launched in October last year. This is our Triton-C system, a 100kW unit that is designed for either remote communities or power-at-sea applications. It shares the same architecture as our other - larger and smaller- systems. We are currently waiting for the U.S. Navy to upgrade their test site (WETS) so that we can install the Triton-C offshore and we are planning for this to happen in the next month or two,” said Mr. Mundon,
The project in Kerala will be executed with the help of Agency for New and Renewable Energy (ANERT) and the Department of Ocean Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai.
Dr. Jayakumar, CEO of Vizhinjam International Seaport Ltd. (VISL) and principal investigator of the project, said “I cannot say when this would happen off the coast of Kerala as it is part of a research project. But we have more faith in this project than the earlier pilot plant, a 150kW fixed oscillating water column device installed at 10m water depth, as the device would be a floating one which can extract energy from ocean waves in various degrees.”
“Researchers from IIT Chennai would be providing the basic details like the site-specific characteristics like wave power, distribution, and other environmental parameters which can influence the design of the device. Since the waves in the Arabian sea, particularly off the coast of Vizhinjam have more energy than other parts of the country, Vizhinjam was chosen for this project,” said Dr. Jayakumar.
