Technology giant General Electric announced this morning that it was dropping $2.6 million in capital on UK-based Ocean Power Delivery, builder of the world's first commercial electricity-producing wave farm 3 miles off the coast of Portugal.
OPD developed the segmented, giant-sea-snake-resembling Pelamis Wave Energy Converters that will populate the farm. The segments will sit semi-submerged at the ocean's surface; passing waves cause them to tug against one another, sending internal hydraulic systems churning and driving electrical generators. Each converter can generate up to 750 kilowatts of electricity; the final Portuguese farm should produce enough to power 15,000 mainland homes.
The first three converters are scheduled to be anchored to the seafloor this month; 28 more will be installed once the test phase is deemed successful.
Something tells us a Nantucket Sound wave farm isn't in the cards.
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