[Wave Power Case Study]
The Limpet 500; Islay
LIMPET stands for “Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer”. It has been developed by Wavegen; an Inverness based company in collaboration with Queen’s University in Belfast. It is the result of a ten-year research project on the island of Islay where a demonstration plant was built capable of generating 75 kW of power.
The concept involves a wave capture chamber that is set into the rock face on the shore. The waves cause the air in the chamber to alternately compress and decompress, the rushes of air drive a Wells turbine that generates power. Therefore, the turbine has to be capable of turning regardless of the direction of flow of air; this turbine was developed by Professor Wells of Queen’s University.
How the LIMPET 500 works
This device is currently generating 0.5MW of power that it supplies to the grid on the Island of Islay off the west coast. This is an example of how this technology can be used to meet small-scale local needs. Wavegen have said that at present the answer lies in not huge operating plants but small ones such as these, which can concentrate on meeting local or regional needs.
The device is rated at 500kW so in order to calculate how many homes it will supply, some simple calculations can be made.
Maximum Electricity generated per annum (kWh) = 500 * 8760 (hours in a year)
= 4380000 kWh
As above a capacity factor (CF) of 40% is assumed.
Electricity Generated per annum (kWh) = 4380000 * 40%
= 1752000 kWh
As above the average annual household consumption is assumed to be 4377 kWh/year.
Number of Homes = 1752000 / 4377
= 400
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