The world’s first wave farm is in the testing phase 5 Km off the coast of Northern Portugal. The Pelamis, a Greek word for sea snake, is the brainchild of Dr Richard Yemm, Dr Dave Pizer and Dr Chris Retzler from Scottish Company Pelamis Wave Power Ltd. According to the company’s official brochure:

The machine is a semi-submerged, articulated structure
composed of cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints.
The wave-induced motion of these joints is resisted by
hydraulic rams, which pump high-pressure oil through
hydraulic motors via smoothing accumulators. The
hydraulic motors drive electrical generators to produce
electricity. Power from all the joints is fed down a single
umbilical cable to a junction on the sea bed. Several
devices can be connected together and linked to shore
through a single seabed cable.

In a nutshell, the rise and fall of the waves move the Pelamis joints which in turn pumps oil through hydraulic motors to create energy.

Portugal, which is on a mission to increase renewable energy to 45% of total consumption within the next 10 years, sees machines like the Pelamis as a key to achieving their goal. With its long Atlantic Coastline , Portugal is currently encouraging company’s to take advantage of generous financial incentives currently available to renewable energy market.

Find out more here -> www.pelamiswave.com