Enel Green Power (EGP) and 40SouthEnergy have begun the second phase of testing the R115 wave energy system at sea.
The machine, which has been developed by 40SouthEnergy, will leave from the port of Livorno once again, this time completely assembled, to be tested offshore at Punta Righini before reaching its final location of Elba island. R115 generators, which have a capacity of 150 kilowatts, will be able to produce 220 gigawatt-hours of power per year, enough to meet the electricity demand of more than 80 households.
With wave power generation, EGP is further expanding its technological portfolio, which already includes hydropower, geothermal, solar power, wind power and biomass.
The first phase of testing confirmed both the machine’s expected performance and the simplicity of its installation, while the second phase will aim to optimise the use of materials and operations.
EGP CEO Francesco Starace said: “We believe in this technology for several reasons: it’s safe, as maintenance can be carried out on the surface, it’s safe for navigation due to a scuttling system that avoids collisions with fishing ships and it is made of perfectly ordinary materials.”
“We think it can be developed in Latin America, and we are thinking about developing a machine that can produce up to two megawatts,” Starace concluded.
EGP and 40South Energy have further consolidated their partnership in order to develop a new 2MW prototype, which will operate in the same way as the device currently being tested, and have the same essential characteristics.
[mappress]
Press release, February 5, 2014; Image: EGP