Marine (or oceanic) energy is generally conceived in this way: a plant to produce electrical energy from wave motion is installed in the open sea, it is connected to the mainland by submarine cables several km long. However, since the installation of each km of cables costs an average of 500.000 dollars, there are those who have seen fit to reformulate the entire system, eliminating precisely that fixed expense - the ground connection - which more than any another determines the high market price of marine energy. How? By integrating cables and systems in a single device: a ship-generator that stores the energy produced and transports it to its destination.
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him
THEmarine energy (o oceanic) is generally conceived in this way: a plant is installed in the open sea to produce electric energy from wavy way, it is connected to the mainland by submarine cables several km long. However, since the implementation of every km of cables costs on average dollars 500.000, there are those who have seen fit to reformulate the entire system, eliminating precisely that fixed expense - the ground connection - which more than any other determines the high market price ofmarine energy. How? By integrating cables and systems into one only device: a ship-generator that stores the energy produced and transports it to its destination.
The project was recently presented at the conference and expo Clean Technology 2011 di Boston and bears the signature of the Professor and Director of Fraunhofer Center for Manufacturing Innovation Andre Sharon. To fully grasp its simplicity - at least theoretical - just take a look at the image of the ship-generator: four floating platforms, anchored with powerful mechanical arms, convert the energy of the wave motion into electricity, storing it as it is produced in special battery.
Each ship, according to the calculations of Sharon and her team ofBoston University, it should take approx twenty hours (1 hx MW, 20 MW total) to recharge the batteries, then guaranteeing, once ashore, "the electricity needed to meet the consumption of a thousand houses Americans ”.
In this way, again according to the project, the cost of energy would drop from the current one 0,30-0,65 dollars per kW / h than traditional marine generators (including offshore wind farms) to a much lower level dollars 0,15, i.e. less than half. The economic advantage, however, will also have to be assessed on the basis of external parameters such as, for example, the resistance of these ships to storms, maintenance costs, environmental damage in the event of a shipwreck, the construction of power stations to connect the batteries to the network… In short, the idea is undoubtedly revolutionary, but the times and the concrete possibilities of seeing it realized still seem quite distant.
Roberto Zambon
