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| Iberdrola Renewables begins tests of wave energy plant in Cantabria Iberdrola Renewables has begun testing of wave energy pilot plant in Santoña, Cantabria, which will become the first of this kind to be installed in Europe. The company has begun on-shore testing of the operation of the internal components of the first buoy, manufactured in the United States and named Power Take Off (PTO). The PTO are the units through which wave energy is captured and processed for storage and, later, to be evacuated under optimum conditions. These units are introduced and installed in a sealed cylindrical compartment –the shaft of the buoy– 20 metres long. The joint company that is developing the plant, named Iberdrola Energías Marinas de Cantabria, S.A., is owned by the company (60%), Total (10%), OPT (10%), the IDEA Institute for Energy Diversification and Savings (10%), and the SODERCAN Cantabria Development Society (10%). The budget for the first phase, which includes the marine electrical infrastructure, comes to some €3 million. In addition to this pioneering project in Cantabria, Iberdrola Renewables is developing a wave energy plant off the Orkney islands in the north of Scotland, which will become the world's largest by installed capacity (3 MW). The complex will comprise four floating Pelamis generators 160 metres long, called "sea serpents", with a capacity of 750 kW each and that will utilise the movement of the waves to generate electricity. Scotland, along with Spain, has one of the largest potential supplies of this renewable energy resource, which is estimated to offer an industrial opportunity of the scope of North Sea oil. write your comments about the article :: © 2008 Construction News :: home page |