Today Pelamis Wave Power is celebrating fourteenth anniversary, and some fantastic achievements and world firsts during those fourteen years, including:
• The world’s first export of electricity from an offshore wave energy converter to an onshore grid network
• Supply and commissioning of the world’s first multiple machine wave farm
• Securing the UK’s first commercial orders for wave energy converters from utility customers E.ON and ScottishPower Renewables
• An unrivalled portfolio of commercial projects, including customer led developments for Crown Estate leased sites
Pelamis inventor and founder Richard Yemm said: “It’s unbelievable how much Pelamis has achieved over the past fourteen years. When we started wave energy was an academic curiosity, and now we are an important part of Scottish and UK Government strategy, have real machines generating into the grid, and utility customers developing real wave farms off our shores. From the first small tank test model in 1998 we have now designed, built and tested six full-scale machines and through that amassed a vast pool of knowledge and experience that gives us unrivalled insight into what we need to do next to deliver commercial wave farms in the next few years. It has been a tough but rewarding 14 years since our inception, and there is more than a tingle of excitement if I allow myself to think where we may be in another 14 years’ time!”
Wave energy technology has the potential to supply a significant proportion of the world’s current global energy consumption, and the Pelamis vision for the future looks well beyond the UK’s waters.
Per Hornung Pederson, CEO of Pelamis Wave Power, commented: “This fourteenth anniversary is a chance to look back on the immense achievements of Pelamis so far, and comes during a period in which utilities and governments are paying increased attention world-wide to the potential energy of the ocean’s waves. Pelamis is at the forefront of wave power technology and we’re excited to begin the next stage of commercial-scale deployments.”
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Offshore WIND staff, January 26, 2012; Image: pelamiswave