Rhode Island Wave Energy Project Gets Funding
Energetech America LLC today announced plans for a "first of its kind" wave energy project in the United States. Planned for an area more than a mile off the southern coast of Rhode Island, "GreenWave Rhode Island" is an estimated $3.5 million project to convert ocean waves into clean electricity. The pilot project, planned to operate for three years, has received $1 million in planning and development funds from the renewable energy funds of three New England states (Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Connecticut). Company officials said the facility is planned as a not-for-profit operation intended to demonstrate the commercial viability of its wave energy technology. Research for the project is being conducted by the University of Rhode Island (URI), world-renowned for oceanographic science and education. Energetech has developed a technology using an "oscillating water column" (OWC) as a key component. Its technology enhances OWC's commercial viability. In brief, the up-and-down movement of waves forces air to rush into a hollow chamber where it is compressed, turning a turbine and powering the generator. The structure, with its four legs resting on small pads on the ocean floor, is stabilized by cables moored to the seabed. Plans call for electricity to be […]