Eco Wave Power (EWP), an Israeli wave energy developer, has held a ribbon-cutting ceremony last week marking the start of operation of the wave energy plant in Gibraltar.
The ceremony was attended by Gibraltar’s government officials, including Gibraltar’s Prime Minister Fabian Picardo, as well as the Minister for Health, Environment and Climate Change John Cortes, who officially ‘switched-on’ the wave power plant.
Gibraltar Electric Authority is the purchaser of the power produced by the first wave energy array in Gibraltar.
The expansion of EWP’s power plant from 100 kW to 1 MW to 5 MW is currently in the design phase and will feature the largest Eco Wave Power units yet with a targeted capacity of some 10 times of the current generation.
EWP’s founder and CEO, David Leb , and co-founder Inna Braverman , said: “We are already taking the next steps to move our technology foreword. Planning and design works has begun on Eco Wave Power’s next generation of 1 MW to 5 MW power plant, by using larger units aiming to deliver around 10 times the capacity of Eco Wave Power’s current units in Gibraltar, and improving its efficiency. This progress is a clear example that given time and with the right governmental support, wave energy can progress along the innovation chain towards commercialization.”
EWP’s floaters move up and down with the movement of the waves, and create pressure which is driving a hydro motor and a generator.
The technology also provides smart automation system that controls the power station’s storm-protection mechanism and the stable transmission of clean electricity to the grid.
Once fully constructed, the 5 MW Gibraltar wave power plant is expected to provide up to 15% of Gibraltar’s electricity needs.