Following the installation of the power plant, the company did some tests. They examined the characteristics of the two different floater shapes used – the “Wave Clapper” and “Power Wing”
The medium-scale wave energy power device in the Black Sea developed by Israeli firm Eco Wave Power which was completed in April this year is now in full operation.
Following the installation of the power plant, the company did some tests. They examined the characteristics of the two different floater shapes used – the “Wave Clapper” and “Power Wing” – and stress-tested the floaters under stormy conditions.
Eco Wave’s device draw energy from wave power using buoys that rise and fall with the “up and down motion, lifting force, change of water level, hydraulic air lock and incident flux of waves.”
Wave height in the area reached as high as 5 meters on April 18 and 19, but the tested floaters survived the test without damages, the company said.
The power output in different wave heights and periods and the influence of side waves on the floaters and connections were measured. The floaters were also connected to electric devices to demonstrate electricity supply, and the option to unite both floaters to one electric grid and charge a common accumulator was explored.
During the tests, Eco Wave Power found that two medium-scale wave energy devices can power six to 10 households. “Now, imagine what a hundred commercial scale floaters could do,” the company’s press release read.
The next phase will be to demonstrate the device’s flexibility in terms of connecting to almost any ocean structure, by moving it to a structurally different coastal area. Right after this, the company will proceed to building a commercial-scale sea wave power plant.
