Swedes Installing Massive Wave Energy Park

The installation of a wave energy park off Sotenäs Municipality in Sweden started on July 1.

The generator is placed on the seabed and connected to the buoys on the surface that capture the wave motion energy, transforming this into electrical energy. The wave devices are connected through a switch system, which sends AC power through a 9.5 km long subsea cable to the electricity grid on land.

The location on the seabed protects the generator from rough weather on the surface and contributes to minimizing the need for maintenance.

During the first stage, a capacity of 1 MW will be installed, which will be evaluated after the test period. Already in the first phase, the power plant would supply electricity to more than 800 homes. When fully developed, it will have a capacity totaling 10 MW, which represents an annual production of 25 GWh (25 million kWh).

The wave energy park is scheduled to be fully developed in 2016 and is expected to have an operating lifetime of 20 years.

The wave energy project is a collaboration between Swedish companies Fortum and Seabased AB. In May, Seabased signed a deal to supply its wave energy technology to a wave energy project in Ghana.