World's First Wave Farm Opens

Sounds interesting but a bit impractical.

Let's run them for a few years and see what happens. Imagine the cost of sending a crew out to do yearly maintenance.

Unfortunately, while there are lots of ways to make "free" energy, they usually end up being uneconomic.

I'd guess they'll cost about 3 million $US each (in production), has anyone got any feel for the true cost.

Very nice. But what will happen when the PETA/enviornmental nutcases decide some creepy crawly waterbug is impacted by these monsters? Has anyone done an enviornmental impact study? Let's see how it lasts.

Why fool with these methods of generating electricity when we already know Nuclear works and works well?

I don't object to trying this kind of thing. However, if all of the money wasted doing this kind of scheme and others like, wind, solar, all subsidized, were to be spent building one nuclear plant, the output of one nuclear plant would far exceed the output of all these schemes.

When an energy source can compete with coal, nuclear or gas powered generators on a one to one basis and win, that is when it will become a viable energy source.

But for remote/isolated locations, having low power consumption requirements, this could be a much better solution. I'm not inclined to immediately pooh-pooh it just because it isn't the be-all and end-all answer. You could probably power all of Tahiti this way - wouldn't that be better than building a nuke plant there?

Far too many moving parts, that's the problem.

And what happens when there is a freak storm, and all those contraptions get loose: a sea-captain's nightmare.

Kind Regards....

Good comment Sparkstation. A good Tsunami will pick it up and put it on shore along with all of the other debris. Imagine if there'd been a contraption like this near Ache Island when the Tsunami hit there.

But that's the same risk we accept when we put in a pier or a jetty. Where the likelihood of storm/tsunami damage is highest, maybe maintain restrictions, but it still could be useful when properly sited. Look at the places we have put water wheels...

Hello EnviroMan

We normally don't install waterwheels in the ocean.

Waterwheels are normally installed at the end of a penstock or leat.

The careful installation of any waterwheel ensures that in case of flood or other natural catastrophe, the waterwheel is bypassed via flood spillways and the like.

Kind Regards....