Riding Waves & Tides to a Cleaner Energy Future
When one thinks of offshore renewable energy, one usually thinks of offshore wind. For the first time progress is being made in the U.S. to develop offshore wind resources. The first steel foundation jacket has been placed in the ocean floor to support the Deepwater Wind project off the coast of Block Island, Rhode Island. (See www.dwwind.com/press/#/1). But recently, progress is also being made in the development of tidal and wave energy resources closer to shore, which are known as marine hydrokinetic or MHK resources.
Australian Wind & Wave Energy Platform a World First
The triangular shaped Energy Island will comprise six oscillating water column (OWC) wave energy devices and an offshore wind turbine assembly and will be capable of generating up to 10 megawatts of power. It is envisaged that six or more Energy Islands may be linked together to create an Energy Farm, which is estimated could supply power to 16,500 Australian households per year. Wood Group Kenny's initial eight-month scope of work under the contract will be carried out in two parts. The first part will involve a data gathering exercise covering a wide range of environmental and technical issues, and the second part will involve conceptual study work to define the layout and configuration of the overall Energy Island assembly.
