Waving hello to electricity...plus fresh water

A wave energy system that sits on the seabed could simultaneously generate electricity and produce fresh water, according to the UK company commercialising the technology.

The Australian-developed CETO system has just been bought for £5m by UK investment company, Renewable Energy Holdings (REH).

The CETO unit is anchored to the seabed at a depth of between 10–25m and coupled to a proprietary pump system which supplies high-pressure seawater to a conventional on-shore generator.

As waves moves over the unit, they depress a disk on top of the box and transmit a force to the pump, which delivers water at almost 70 bar. It is carried ashore in a 125mm diameter pipe to a turbine, which produces the electricity. Each CETO unit could potentially produce 100kW of power.

The water can also be pumped through a reverse osmosis filter on the shore, which produces desalinated water. REH operations director Jannie Retief said: ‘The fresh water part was something the Australians got really excited about, whereas in Europe everyone is much more interested in the renewable energy idea.’