8/7/2019 The Underwater Power Station - Archimedes Wave Swing - Eureka Project

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THE UNDERWATERPOWER STATIONThe sea is free. The boundless energy thatkeeps the oceans in constant movementought to be a cheap, clean source of

power. But how to extract this power hasremained a puzzle. Now EUREKA project1219 - ARCHIMEDES - has successfully testeda model of an underwater hydro-electricplant that could supply up to 9 Gigawatt-hours of energy each year, enough tosupply some 3,000 households. And thetechnology has other aces up its sleeve - itis quiet, unobtrusive and non-polluting.

A unique approach to a familiarproblemIn the 1980s, the search for an economicallyviable system that could convert waveenergy into electricity became somethingakin to that for the Holy Grail. Many com-panies dedicated huge sums of money andtime to the quest, but the results were,almost without exception, disappointing.Now, a team of European researchersappears to be on the verge of succeedingwhere others failed.Known in full as the Archimedes WaveSwing (AWS), the new plant is different fromother wave energy systems because it usesthe submarine swell of the water column

EUREKA PROJECT 1219ARCHIMEDES WAVE SWING

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rather than surface motion to generateelectricity. The wave swing, which will havea diameter of about 25 metres and a heightof 30 metres, consists of a buoyant airchamber that is attached to a non-movingbase that sits on the seabed. The swellmoves the air chamber up and down, andthe vertical movement is converted mechani-cally into electricity. Depending on the

amount of swell, a single wave swing isexpected to produce between 6 and 9 GWhof energy per year. And because swell ismore or less unaffected by wind and tide,the electrical output will be constant, andthus easily managed.

ARCHIMEDES was the idea of Fred Gardnerof Teamwork Technology of Zijdewind inthe Netherlands. His initial design has beendeveloped in collaboration with AlphaThames Engineering, a specialist engineer-ing company based in the UK, and FBO-Consultores, a Portuguese engineering con-sultancy. Hans van Breugel, Teamworks

Managing Director, explains the benefit ofcollaborating: ARCHIMEDES required tech-nology that already existed in the offshoreoil and gas industry, so we contacted theoffshore engineering company, AlphaThames, for that expertise. We had alsoidentified the coastline of Portugal as beingideal for ARCHIMEDES so we needed aPortuguese partner to help us locate a suit-able site. An approach to the Dutch Embassyin Portugal resulted in our relationship withFBO.Teamwork Technology has a good relation-ship with staff at the EUREKA office in theNetherlands so, given the internationalnature of the collaboration, the companyapproached them to help get the projectoff the ground. EUREKA provided an estab-lished framework within which the partnerscould collaborate.

Scale modelsIn this project the researchers built two scalemodels. A 1:20 model has been tested inwave flumes in Holland, while a 1:50 modelhas undergone successful trials in Cork,Ireland. These prototypes have clearly dem-onstrated that the concept works, and theteam is now raising funds to build a full-scale model for trials in Portugal. The Portu-guese coastline provides optimal conditionsfor ARCHIMEDES for several reasons. First,it faces the open expanse of the NorthAtlantic Ocean, providing plenty of swell.Secondly, the coastline is a good place toland electricity cables because it isnt partic-ularly rocky. In addition much of Portugalspopulation is based around the coast, soelectricity distribution infrastructure is closeby. Another important factor is the climate -storms are rare in summer, so there is agood weather window for installation andsubsequent maintenance.

To date, the Dutch government has allocatedfunds for the next phase of work and apositive response from the Portuguese gov-ernment is expected. A consortium of indus-trial partners that includes FBO-Consultoresand a Portuguese electricity company hasbeen set up to manufacture the powerplants.

The main interest in the project for AlphaThames was to diversify their offshoreexpertise into wave energy projects. Withthis achieved, the collaboration with Team-work Technology has blossomed, with otherjoint projects already under way.

The future for wave energyThe projects next phase has a three-yeartime span, but Mr van Breugel believes thetechnology will reach the market quickerthan that. If we move fast and the weatheris good to us, it should be possible to installa full-scale wave swing by the summer of1999. The worst case is the summer of theyear 2000. And although we are allowingfor a full three years of operation, we willknow if ARCHIMEDES is viable after the firstyear.If it is viable, Portugal could be looking for-ward to a future of cheap and environmen-tally friendly energy. A network of waveswings could significantly add to the

countrys present hydro-electric generatingcapacity. Wave swings are also likely toprove popular because, being underwater,they take up no space and are easier onthe eye than wind turbines. Furthermoreeach wave swing has an estimated life spanof 25 years, and because the technology issimple, it is easy to remove or replace afterthis time.

The benefits of ARCHIMEDES could alsospread internationally, Mr van Breugel says.Basically the technology can be appliedanywhere there is good swell, a coast-basedpopulation and a suitable coastline. We fullyexpect many European countries to be inter-ested as well as those further afield such asSouth Africa, Japan and other countries inAsia.

EUREKA

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Text:E.S.N.La

yout:EUROTEAM

Project Profile

! 1219

Acronym ARCHIMEDESWAVE SWING

Title: ArchimedesWave Swing (AWS):

energy out of waves

Participants: Netherlands:TeamworkTechnology B.V.Portugal:FBO-ConsultoresUnited Kingdom:Alpha ThamesEngineering Ltd

Main Contact: Hans van BreugelTeamworkTechnology B.V.Tel: +31 226 423 411

Fax: +31 226 423 433e-mail: teamwork@multiweb.nl

Estimated Cost: 1.57 MECU

End Date: January 1998