New ocean power technologies look promosing- claimed cost effective

Turbine Goes Against the Flow

Neo-Aerodynamic provides the most INEXPENSIVE means to generate electricity even when compared to fossil fuel engines. Phi Tran estimates a 1 MW Wind turbine would cost less than US $200,000.00; and a 1 MW Hydro turbine would cost half that.

The return on investment is estimated at three to five years.

The patent-pending, Neo-Aerodynamic turbine invented by Phi Tran harnesses torque from both kinetic and pneumatic energy of the fluid flow (wind or water). Since the 'lift' forces are caused by artificial flow of the fluid (air/wind) around the center of the turbine, the turbine's worst enemy -- turbulence -- is neutralized.

The efficiencies are high enough to make this turbine design economically competitive with fossil-fuel-generated electricity. It is able to function well in low wind areas, making it ideal for city/urban roof top and back yard settings, requiring no tower.

"A $10-15,000 roof top or backyard device will produce enough electricity for one California family including heat for cooking and air conditioning." -- Phi Tran

The design is applicable to harness energy from any of the following resources: Wind, River, Creek, Ocean current, Tidal current and Wave.

http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:Neo-AeroDynamic#Official_Website

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S.D.E. Energy Ltd. is a Tel Aviv, Israel manufacturer and marketer of Sea Wave Power Plants - utilizing sea wave energy to produce electricity economically, and in an environmentally-friendly manner

According to SDE:

Manufacturing cost for a 1MW system is from US$ 650K and production cost is the lowest in the market. The erection cost of a 1MW S.D.E. station is from $650,000 while a comparable station costs $1,500,000 from coal, $900,000 from natural gas, $1,500,000 from solar sources, and $3,000,000 from wind. Using S.D.E. technology, production of electricity is 2 to 4 cents/kwh, compared to 4 cents from coal, 5.5 cents from natural gas, 12 cents from solar energy and 3.6 cents from wind.

http://peswiki.com/index.php/Directory:S.D.E._Energy_Ltd.#Latest_Developments

June 27, 2007
1.2 MW Tidal Energy Turbine Ready for Installation
According to a June 6, 2007 press release by Marine Current Turbines Ltd (MCT), the installation of its 1.2 MW SeaGen commercial tidal energy system will commence during the week of August 20th in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough. SeaGen will be the world’s largest tidal current device and will generate clean and sustainable electricity for approximately 1000 homes. Being a full size prototype, no scale up will be required for future commercial installations

http://thefraserdomain.typepad.com/energy/ocean_power/index.html

Finavera Renewables begins construction of AquaBuOY 2.0 wave energy converter Vancouver, Canada, June 19th 2007 – Finavera Renewables Inc. (‘Finavera Renewables’) (TSX-V: FVR) is pleased to announce construction has begun on the AquaBuOY 2.0 wave energy converter. Fabrication of the second generation device is being carried out at Oregon Iron Works in Portland, Oregon and will culminate in the planned deployment of the AquaBuOY later this year.

http://www.renewableenergyaccess.com/rea/partner/story?id=49002

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Ocean Navitas’ technology is called The Aegir Dynamo™.The Aegir Dynamo™ functions in a unique fashion by generating electrical current from the motion of the prime mover in one phase via a direct mechanical conversion and the use of a bespoke buoyancy vessel. This new solution is not only more efficient than existing wave generation technology, but also equivalent fossil fuel and wind turbine technologies. Furthermore it complies with all current renewable energy policies.

The Aegir Dynamo™ has unique power generation properties, its efficiency (93% conversion efficiency) and its adaptability to various environments.

http://oceannavitas.com/technology.html

DEXA is a research network dedicated to developing production viable Ocean Wave Energy converters, based on Plane Angular Modulation, (PAM). A very simple and reliable principle, where two planes or pontoons are floating in the waves, and changing angle relative to each other, when modulated by the ocean waves. The tilt action creates oil pressure in a hydraulic cylinder, to drive a hydraulic motor, and generator to produce electricity.
An important benefit of this principle is very high efficiency at low incident wave height, and very low efficiency at high and extremely high waves. This means an almost equal production can be maintained in both low and high waves, and in storms the converter will survive intact, and even maintain a normal Hydrogen production. The DEXA converter is building on an efficient mechanical principle, and cheap durable building materials. (Mainly concrete).
This leads to a weight/output ratio of 0.6 kw/t (Other well known systems have as low as 0.2 kw/t). Combined with the use of low cost reinforced concrete, this contributes to the good economy of this particular wave energy system.
This means a DEXA converter constructed in concrete, and with a relatively low material consumption per kw, will pay for it's used raw materials up to 20 times faster than other known systems. http://www.dexawaveenergy.co.uk/

AWS Ocean Energy to install subsea wave energy system next year (Wednesday 13th June)

(Archimedes device)

Speaking at the Scottish Marine Renewables Conference in Perth (Thursday 14th June), Graham Bibby, the Operations Director of AWS Ocean Energy Ltd, will confirm that the firm's wave energy system will be installed in Orkney in 2008.

http://www.waveswing.com/

That isn't the problem.

What we lack is the gumption to get these technologies built.

The rich in our era are looking for sure-bet investments, junk paper, and derivative wealth. Carbon credits promise, sadly, to become the next great subsidized rip-off.

I advocate for both nuclear energy and most types of "alternate" energy. Nuclear has a slim chance -- and the other ones have none. Not right now. Not with the status quo. Half the world could die of starvation, and the majority of all investment would be put into coffin derivatives.

But with aggressive and forward-looking investment and development, we won't have to worry.

--p!

INRI (SEADOG)

A prototype SEADOG unit has been successfully tested in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Freeport, TX for the past year, where INRI says it exceeded expectations for performance and durability. INRI is currently constructing a scaled-up version which will be tested in the more challenging environment off the rugged coast of Northern California; in the Table Bluff area of Humboldt County. If the prototype SEADOG survives its one-year ordeal intact, plans call for a small-scale 16-pump pilot wave farm which will be used to fill a 50,000 gallon storage tank attached to a hydroelectric generator. If the $3 million phase-I trial is able to reliably deliver the 500+ kW (enough to light around 600 homes) INRI hopes to expand the project to a 200-pump 6.7 MW system that would produce power at a cost of around 3.5 cents/kW-hr, a price that approaches typical wholesale rates for fossil-generated power.

Ocean Power Technologies

The PowerBuoyTM system is designed to be economically competitive with fossil fuels and it is likely that initial equipment sales will come from isolated diesel markets. In the longer term, though, OPTA is confident that its technology will be competitive against large coal-fired power generation. Competitive local steel fabrication facilities and other local vendors for deployment and maintenance are utilised to minimise the cost of the system.

Electricity from an installation of multiple PowerBuoyTM units is expected to cost around 7 to 12 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) to run compared to the 25 to 50 cents per kWh for diesel-fired generation. This also compares favourably with other renewable sources of energy. Another benefit of OPT's technology is its durability. As it is based around a number of existing proven technologies such as ocean buoys, marine-quality hydraulics and conventional moorings, the unit is estimated to have a useful life of at least 30 years.

OPTA is developing and installing an initial 20kW wave-energy generation system, to be moored to the seabed several kilometres off the Victorian coast near Portland. This system will be used primarily to demonstrate the technology to prospective buyers throughout the Australasian region, while the US Navy has already contracted for a larger system to be installed off one of the Hawaiian Islands.

Bourne Energy says its three renewable, dam-free, silent and invisible hydropower systems have the potential to tap the world's resources of wave, tidal and river energy.

Named OceanStar, TidalStar and RiverStar, the company suggests its systems could be as much as 17 times more efficient in available energy per square meter than wind-based energy, because water density is much higher than that of air.

OceanStar is to be a submerged ocean power "harvester" that interconnects units to form mile-long underwater energy capture arrays situated a few miles offshore. TidalStar will be a submerged tidal power harvester which interconnects to form long tidal fence arrays, the company says. RiverStar is being developed as an in-river, dam-free river power harvester. Each of these hydropower systems is to use modular components making them adaptable to specific sites.

http://www.insidegreentech.com/node/357

SEADOG
http://www.inri.us/pages/2/index.htm

for installation within 6 months, with main problem permitting rather than technology

similar claim by other companies such as the Israeli company with a pilot in operation.