Australia's first wave power plant ready to roll - Reuters

[Eugene]

Australia's first wave power plant ready to roll
01 Mar 2007 00:03:01 GMT
Source: Reuters

By Rob Taylor

-snip-

Australia's first commercial wave-generated power station will in weeks begin supplying
homes south of Sydney with electricity and fresh drinking water, courtesy of the sea.

"The energy in waves is the densest of any natural sources of energy. It's pretty much
always there and it doesn't go away like sun and wind do," John Bell, the Chief Finance
Officer from station developer Energetech told Reuters.

Lying anchored just 100 metres (yards) off a popular surf beach near Wollongong, a city
of around 200,000 people just south of Sydney, the 485-tonne plant will power 500
homes along the local grid.

Electricity is generated when waves wash into a funnel facing the ocean, driving air
through a pipe and into a turbine capable of pumping 500kw of clean power each day
into the local grid.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP130905.htm

[diane in sf]

1. Excellent! Most of the world's population is near the coasts.

San Francisco is working to get a wave/tide power generator going as well.