Wave Hub is deployed on seabed

Greenwise Staff

7th September 2010

A pioneering underwater marine energy device seven years in the making has been successfully deployed on the seabed off the Coast of Cornwall.

Wave Hub is a giant 'electrical socket’ with the potential to generate 20 megawatts (MW) of electricity. Connected to multiple wave power devices on the sea’s surface, via four 'tails’, and to the National Grid, via an underwater cable, the Wave Hub is the word’s largest test site for wave technology and is the jewel in the crown of the South West’s fledgling marine energy industry.

"Wave Hub will be on the seabed for the next 25 years, helping the world gain invaluable knowledge about how we tap the vast energy potential of our oceans in the pursuit of clean, abundant, renewable energy and cementing the UK’s position at the forefront of this green power revolution," said Wave Hub general manager Guy Lavender.

80,000 tonnes of rock

The deployment of the 12-tonne hub has taken several days starting on Friday with the lowering of it onto the ocean floor 10 miles offshore, followed at the weekend by the positioning of the hub’s four 300 metre 'tails’. Yesterday, the first of 80,000 tonnes of rock begun being laid on top of the 25 kilometre cable connecting Wave Hub to the grid onshore.

UK Science Minister David Willetts welcomed the deployment, saying it would cement the UK’s position at the forefront of wave energy research and development. "The UK is already leading the way, with 25 per cent of the world’s wave and tidal technologies being developed here. This is a huge opportunity for UK business – the sector could be worth £2 billion by 2050 and it has the potential to create up to 16,000 jobs by 2040," he said.

The £42 million Wave Hub is being funded with £12.5 million from the South West Regional Development Agency (SWRDA), £20 million from the European Regional Development Fund Convergence Programme and £9.5 million from the UK Government.

So far, only one wave energy converter has signed up to 'plug’ into it, Ocean Power Technologies’ PowerBuoy, but others are expected to follow.

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