Westside Lewis wave turbine is switched on 30/7/08
A wave energy generator which will be first used in a Lewis marine power scheme was officially started by Scottish enterprise minister Jim Mather today.
The startup of the 100 kW turbine is a major step forward for the Siadar Wave Energy Project (SWEP) at Shader, Barvas on the westside of Lewis.
The Shader community came up with the idea for its own unique £ 20 million wave power station to create electricity from the sea.
They joined up with npower renewables and Wavegen to develop the concept of building a series of 40 generators within a breakwater thus providing a small sheltered harbour.
Huge pistons driven by the action of the waves and tides would pump air up and down the interior of concrete towers thus generating electricity.
The four megawatt scheme could power around 1500 homes each year - equal to over a fifth of all households on Lewis and Harris.
Planning permission has been applied for and if successful, building work could start next year with up to 50 jobs created over its 18 months construction period.
The 100kW test turbine was developed with support from the Scottish Government’s WATES (Wave and Tidal Energy Support) scheme.
Today Mr Mather was visiting Wavegen’s LIMPET facility, where the 100kW turbine is installed, near Portnahaven on the island of Isla.
LIMPET is the world’s first commercial-scale, grid-connected wave energy plant, and has been in operation since 2000. Mr Mather was joined by senior executives from RWE Innogy and Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation (Wavegen’s parent company).
Mr Mather said: “The Scottish Government is determined to help make Scotland a world leader in the development and deployment of wave and tidal technologies.
Dr Roland Muench, CEO of Voith Siemens Hydro commented: “With this new turbine Wavegen has extended the range of application for wave energy plants to include more energetic and hence more economically attractive environments.
“I am confident the reliability demonstrated in other proven turbines will be continued in this 100kW turbine, and I look forward to seeing turbines deployed in Siadar and many other projects. Voith Siemens Hydro sees ocean energy as a growth sector, and this is reinforced by worldwide interest in our products.”
Kevin McCullough, Chief Operating Officer of RWE's renewable-energy unit RWE Innogy said: “This is a significant step forward in realising our ambitions of developing the SWEP at Siadar. It is a great opportunity to see the technology in action and optimise its performance before it's used commercially."
