Subj : Huge 60-foot-tall buoy uses ocean waves to create clean energy To : All From : PopularScience-Climate-Change Date : Tue Mar 12 2024 14:30:06 Huge 60-foot-tall buoy uses ocean waves to create clean energy Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2024 14:20:00 +0000 Description: The buoy shifts into a passive 'transparent' mode when the waters get too choppy. CorPower CorPowers C4 prototype just completed a successful six-month test run off the coast of Portugal. Here are the results. The post Huge 60-foot-tall buoy uses ocean waves to create clean energy appeared first on Popular Science . FULL STORY ====================================================================== The buoy shifts into a passive 'transparent' mode when the waters get too choppy. CorPower Giant buoys over 60-feet tall may one day generate clean energy to feed into local power gridsbut making it a reality isnt as simple as going with the oceans flow. To successfully keep the idea afloat, its all about timing. Swedish company CorPower recently announced the completion of its first commercial scale buoy generator demonstration program off the coast of northern Portugal. Over the course of a six-month test run, CorPowers three-story C4 Wave Energy Converter (WEC) endured four major Atlantic storms and adapted to constantly shifting wave heights. Although final analysis is still ongoing, CorPower believes the technology offers a promising new way to transition towards a sustainable future. As New Atlas explains, the basic theory behind CorPowers C4 is relatively straightforward. As its air-filled chassis bobs along the rolling waves, an internal system converts the up-and-down movement into rotational power for energy generation. At the same time, however, a tensioned, internal pneumatic cylinder reacts in real-time to wave phasesslightly delaying its movements behind the waves amplifies the buoys bobbing, thus creating even more energy production. According to CorPower, using this system can boost power generation as much as 300-percent. But what about when the sea inevitably gets choppier, as was the case during storms that produced waves nearly as high as the C4 itself? When this happens, the pneumatic cylinder switches off its active control to allow the machine to enter transparent mode, during which time it simply rides out the adverse ocean conditions until its time to spring back into action. CorPower compares this tuning and detuning feature to similar systems in wind turbines, which adjust the pitch of their blades in response to surrounding weather conditions. [Related: Huge underwater kite turbine powered 1,000 homes in the Faroe Islands .] CorPower says its team recorded as much as 600kW of peak power production during the C4 trial, although they believe its possible for the buoys current version to ramp that up to around 850kW. While that by itself isnt much compared to a single offshore wind turbine s multi-megawatt range, CorPowers plan is to eventually deploy thousands of more efficient WEC machines to create a much more powerful generator network. If it can scale a farm up to produce 20 gigawatts of energy, it estimates the buoys could offer something between $33-$44 per megawatt-hour. Thats pretty attractive to investors, especially given C4s aquatic power source operates virtually 24/7, unlike wind or solar generators. Right now, however, 20 gigawatts would require over 20,000 buoys, so a more economical and efficient buoy system is definitely needed before anyone starts seeing fleets of these canary yellow contraptions floating out there on the open oceans. CorPower seems confident it can get there, and is next planning a new trial phase that will see multiple C4 buoys in action. The post Huge 60-foot-tall buoy uses ocean waves to create clean energy appeared first on Popular Science . Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.popsci.com/technology/buoy-wave-generator/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Science News (1337:1/100) .