Oyster Wave Energy Converter puts climate change to good use

Queen's University Belfast and marine energy company Aquamarine Power Limited have agreed to take part in a new five-year research partnership that will develop a next generation hydro-electric wave power converter.

Already the partnership has created the Oyster wave power device (see image of Aquamarie staff visiting the full-scale prototype, above), designed to capture the energy found in amplified surge forces in nearshore waves.

The first prototype of Oyster, a hydro-electric wave power converter, is to be launched at sea for the first time this summer at the European Marine Energy Centre off the coast of Orkney.

The Oyster system consists of a simple steel oscillating wave surge converter, or pump, fitted with double acting water pistons, deployed near-shore in depths around 10-12m. Each passing wave activates the pump, which delivers high pressure water via a sub-sea pipeline to the shore.

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