Wave power

The Australian-based wave energy company Oceanlinx is to supply up to 2.7MW of electricity to the island of Maui, Hawaii from a system it has developed that extracts energy from ocean waves and converts it into electricity. 

Three of the company's floating wave energy converter (WECs) will be installed about a kilometre off the north coast of Maui, due north of the Pauwela lighthouse. A sub-sea cable will run from the WEC array along the sea-bed with a shore crossing in to the east of Maliko Bay, where it will feed into a substation on the Maui Electric Company grid.

The floating wave energy converter (WEC) itself combines an oscillating water column with Oceanlinx's own patented turbine technology.

Most turbines are designed to function for gas or liquid flowing in one direction and at constant velocity with the blades designed to take advantage of the optimal 'angle of attack'. However, when the flow is not always from the same direction or a constant velocity, traditional turbines become ineffective.