PELAMIS WAVE ENERGY CONVERTOr

Abstract

There is a lot of energy that can be harvested from

moving water. Energy can be extracted from water rushing over
a waterfall and from the regular patterns of the ocean's tides.
The energy that propels waves forward in the oceans can also be
extracted and used. Recent trend is that extracting the useful
work from the wave energy. The wave energy can be converted in
to other forms like electrical energy, pumping energy etc. The
pelamis wave energy convertor also works on this principle of
conversion. The pelamis wave energy convertor converts wave
energy in to electric energy, its construction, working principle, is
included here.

rise to large loads. Its novel joint configuration is used to

induce a tunable cross-coupled resonant response. Control of
the restraint applied to the joints allows this resonant response
to be turned-up in small seas where capture efficiency must
be maximised or turned-down to limit loads and motions in
survival conditions.

Etymology:
Pelamis platurus is a yellow-bellied sea snake that lives
in tropical and subtropical waters. It prefers shallow inshore

KeywordsPelamis, P1, P2, Anchor, Power cables etc.

INTRODUCTION
The Pelamis wave energy convertor is a technology that uses
the motion of ocean surface waves to create electricity. The
machine is made up of connected sections which flex and
bend as wave pass; it is this motion which is used to generate
electricity.
Developed by Scottish company Pelamis Wave Power
(Formerly Ocean power delivery), the pelamis became worlds
first wave machine to generate electricity into the grid form
offshore wave energy, when it was connected to the U.K. grid
in 2004. Pelamis wave power has since gone to build and test
four additional pelamis machines. Three, first generation P1
machines which were tested in a farm of f the coast of
Portugal in 2009 and the first of a second generation of
machines, the P2 started tests off Orkney in 2010.

Operation:
The Pelamis machine consists of a series of semisubmerged cylindrical sections linked by hinged joints. As
waves pass along the length of the machine, the sections move
relative to one another. The wave-induced motion of the
sections is resisted by hydraulic cylinders which pump high
pressure oil through hydraulic motors via smoothing hydraulic
accumulators. The hydraulic motors drive electrical to
produce electricity. Power from all the joints is fed down a
single umbilical cable to a junction on the sea bed. Several
devices can be connected and linked to shore through a single
seabed cable.

Principles:
The Pelamis is an attenuating wave energy converter
designed with survivability at the fore. The Pelamis's long thin
shape means it is almost invisible to hydrodynamic forces,
namely inertia, drag, and slamming, which in large waves give

waters.

Pelamis platura, commonly known as the yellowbellied sea snake, yellow belly sea snake, or pelagic sea snake,
is a species of sea snake found in tropical oceanic waters
around the world. It is the only member of the genus Pelamis.

Wave power:
Wave power is the transport of energy by ocean surface
waves, and the capture of that energy to do useful work for
example, electricity generation, water desalination, or the
pumping of water (into reservoirs). Machinery able to exploit
wave power is generally known as a wave energy converter

Motion

of

particle

in

an

ocean

wave.

(WEC).
Wave power is distinct from the diurnal flux of tidal

A = at deep water. The orbital motion of fluid particles

decreases rapidly with increasing depth below the surface.

power and the steady gyre of ocean currents. Wave power

B = at shallow water (ocean floor is now at B). The elliptical

generation is not currently a widely employed commercial

movement of a fluid particle flattens with decreasing depth.

technology although there have been attempts at using it since

1 =Propagationdirection.

at least 1890. In 2008, the first experimental wave farm was

2 =Wavecrest.

opened in Portugal, at the Aguadoura Wave Park.

3 = Wave trough.

Physical concepts:

When an object bobs up and down on a ripple in a pond, it

experiences an elliptical trajectory.

the wave energy flux (or wave power, which must not be
Photograph of the water particle orbits under a progressive

confused with the actual power generated by a wave power

and periodic surface gravity wave in a wave flume. The

device).

wave

conditions

are:

mean

water

depth = 2.50 ft

(0.76 m), wave height H = 0.339 ft (0.103 m), wavelength

= 6.42 ft (1.96 m), period T = 1.12 s.

Wave power formula:

In deep water where the water depth is larger than half

Waves are generated by wind passing over the surface of

the wavelength, the wave energy flux is

the sea. As long as the waves propagate slower than the wind
speed just above the waves, there is an energy transfer from
the wind to the waves. Both air pressure differences between
the upwind and the lee side of a wave crest, as well as friction
on the water surface by the wind, making the water to go into
With P the wave energy flux per unit of wave-crest

the shear stress causes the growth of the waves.

length, Hm0 the significant

Wave height is determined by wind speed, the duration of
time the wind has been blowing, fetch (the distance over
which the wind excites the waves) and by the depth and
topography of the seafloor (which can focus or disperse the
energy of the waves). A given wind speed has a matching
practical limit over which time or distance will not produce

wave

height, T the

wave period, the water density and g the acceleration. The

above formula states that wave power is proportional to the
wave period and to the square of the wave height. When the
significant wave height is given in meters, and the wave
period in seconds, the result is the wave power in kilowatts
(kW) per meter of wavefront length.

larger waves. When this limit has been reached the sea is said
Example: Consider moderate ocean swells, in deep water, a

to be "fully developed".

few kilometres off a coastline, with a wave height of 3 meters

In general, larger waves are more powerful but wave
power is also determined by wave speed, wavelength, and

and a wave period of 8 seconds. Using the formula to solve

for power, we get

water density.
Oscillatory motion is highest at the surface and diminishes
exponentially

with

depth.

However,

for standing

waves (clapotis) near a reflecting coast, wave energy is also

present

as

pressure

oscillations

at

great

depth,

producing micro seisms. These pressure fluctuations at greater

Meaning there are 36 kilowatts of power potential per meter

depth are too small to be interesting from the point of view of

of wave crest.

wave power.

In major storms, the largest waves offshore are about 15

The waves propagate on the ocean surface, and the wave

meters high and have a period of about 15 seconds. According

energy is also transported horizontally with the group

to the above formula, such waves carry about 1.7 MW of

velocity. The mean transport rate of the wave energy through

power across each meter of wave front.

a vertical plane of unit width, parallel to a wave crest, is called

An effective wave power device captures as much as

possible of the wave energy flux. As a result the waves will be
of lower height in the region behind the wave power device.

History of wave energy:

The first known patent to utilize energy from ocean waves

Wave energy and wave energy flux:

dates back to 1799 and was filed in Paris by Girard and his
son. An early application of wave power was a device

In a sea state, the average energy density per unit area

constructed around 1910 by Bochaux-Praceique to light and

of gravity waves on the water surface is proportional to the

powers his house at Royan, near Bordeaux in France. It

wave height squared, according to linear wave theory:

appears that this was the first Oscillating Water Column type
of wave energy device. From 1855 to 1973 there were already
340 patents filed in the UK alone.
Modern scientific pursuit of wave energy was however
pioneered by Yoshio Masuda's experiments in the 1940s. He
has tested various concepts of wave energy devices at sea,

Where E is the mean wave energy density per unit

horizontal area (J/m2), the sum of kinetic and potential
energy density per unit horizontal area. The potential energy
density is equal to the kinetic energy, both contributing half to

with several hundred units used to power navigation lights.

Among these was the concept of extracting power from the
angular motion at the joints of an articulated raft, which was
proposed in the 1950s by Masuda.

the wave energy density E, as can be expected from

A renewed interest in wave energy was motivated by

the equipartition theorem. In ocean waves, surface tension

the oil crisis in 1973. A number of university researchers re-

effects are negligible for wavelengths above a few decimetres.

examined the potential of generating energy from ocean

As the waves propagate, their energy is transported. The

energy transport velocity is the group velocity. As a result, the
wave energy flux, through a vertical plane of unit width
perpendicular to the wave propagation direction, is equal to

waves, among whom notably were Stephen Salter from

the University

of

Edinburgh, Kjell

Budal and Johannes

Falnes from Norwegian Institute of Technology (now merged

into Norwegian
Technology),Michael

University
E.

of

Science

McCormick from U.

S.

and
Naval

Academy, David Evans from Bristol University, Michael

French

from University

of

Lancaster, John

Newman and Chiang C. Mei from MIT.

With cg the group velocity (m/s). Due to the dispersion
relation for water waves under the action of gravity, the group
velocity depends on the wavelength , or equivalently, on the
wave period T. Further, the dispersion relation is a function of
the water depth h. As a result, the group velocity behaves
differently in the limits of deep and shallow water, and at
intermediate depths.

Stephen Salters 1974 invention became known as Salter's

Duck or Nodding Duck, although it was officially referred to
as the Edinburgh Duck. In small scale controlled tests, the
Duck's curved cam-like body can stop 90% of wave motion
and can convert 90% of that to electricity giving 81%
efficiency.

In the 1980s, as the oil price went down, wave-energy

displacement of commercial and recreational fishermen from

funding was drastically reduced. Nevertheless, a few first-

productive fishing grounds, can change the pattern of beach

generation prototypes were tested at sea. More recently,

sand nourishment, and may represent hazards to safe

following the issue of climate change, there is again a growing

navigation. Waves generate about 2,700 gigawatts of power.

interest worldwide for renewable energy, including wave

Of those 2,700 gigawatts, only about 500 gigawatts can be

energy.

captured with the current technology.

Modern technology:

Wave farms:

Wave power devices are generally categorized by

The Aguadoura Wave Farm was the world's first wave

the method used to capture the energy of the waves,

farm. It was located 5 km (3 mi) offshore near Pvoa de

by location and by the power take-off system. Method types

Varzim north of Oporto in Portugal. The farm was designed

are

following

to use three Pelamis wave energy converters to convert the

or attenuator oriented parallel to the direction of wave

motion of the ocean surface waves into electricity, totalling to

propagation; terminator, oriented perpendicular to the

2.25MW in total installed capacity. The farm first generated

direction of wave propagation; oscillating water column; and

electricity in July 2008 and was officially opened on the 23rd

overtopping. Locations are shoreline, near shore and offshore.

of September 2008, by the Portuguese Minister of

Types of power take-off include: hydraulic ram, elastomeric

Economy. The wave farm was shut down two months after the

hose

air

official opening in November 2008 as a result of the financial

turbine, and linear electrical generator. Some of these designs

collapse of Babcock & Brown due to the global economic

incorporate parabolic reflectors as a means of increasing the

crisis. The machines were off-site at this time due to technical

wave energy at the point of capture. These capture systems

problems, and although resolved have not returned to site and

use the rise and fall motion of waves to capture energy. Once

were subsequently scrapped in 2011 as the technology had

the wave energy is captured at a wave source, power must be

moved on to the P2 variant as supplied to Eon and Scottish

carried to the point of use or to a connection to the electrical

Power Renewable. A second phase of the project planned to

grid by transmission power cables.

increase the installed capacity to 21MW using a further 25

point

absorber

pump,

or

buoy;

surfacing

pump-to-shore, hydroelectric

turbine,

Pelamis machines is in doubt following Babcock's financial

collapse.

Challenges:

Funding for a 3MW wave farm in Scotland was announced

There is a potential impact on the marine environment.

on 20 February 2007 by the Scottish Executive, at a cost of

Noise pollution, for example, could have negative impact if

over 4 million pounds, as part of a 13 million funding

not monitored, although the noise and visible impact of each

package for marine power in Scotland. The first of 66

design varies greatly. Other biophysical impact (flora and

machines was launched in May 2010.

fauna, sediment regimes and water column structure and

flows) of scaling up the technology is being studied. In terms
of socio-economic challenges, wave farms can result in the

Funding has also been announced for the development of

a Wave hub off the north coast of Cornwall, England. The

Wave hub will act as giant extension cable, allowing arrays of

wave energy generating devices to be connected to the

electricity grid. The Wave hub will initially allow 20MW of

of mooring and anchorage lines with commercial and

sport-fishing.
Degradation of scenic ocean front views from wave
energy devices located near or on the shore, and from
onshore overhead electric transmission lines

capacity to be connected, with potential expansion to 40MW.

Four device manufacturers have so far expressed interest in
connecting to the Wave hub.
The scientists have calculated that wave energy gathered
at Wave Hub will be enough to power up to 7,500 households.
Savings that the Cornwall wave power generator will bring
are significant: about 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide in the
next 25 years. A CETO wave farm off the coast of Western
Australia has been operating to prove commercial viability

Conclusion:
The pelamis wave energy convertor is the best source
for electric energy for future needs. The petroleum products
are being questioned about their existence and price, similarly
the hydropower plants and coal fuelled power plants facing
the same problems, so PWEC will be the best and efficient
replacement for these. India is not having a single power plant
based on wave energy convertors even though it has been
covered with ocean in almost all directions. So the awareness
about the ocean energy and wave energy convertors is
necessary..

and, after preliminary environmental approval, is poised for

REFERENCES

further development.

Advantages:

It also displace above 2000 carbon dioxide emissions

tons per year.
Avoids pollution
The Pelamis has a similar output to a modern wind
turbine.
When complete, the project should meet the average
electricity demand of more than 15,000 Portuguese
households.
There is going to be only starting investment.
Minimum environmental impact.
Plenty of space plus high 'power-density'.
Survivability - 100 year wave
100% available technology
Maximum site flexibility
Minimum work on-site

Disadvantages:

Disturbance or destruction of marine life (including

changes in the distribution and types of marine life
near the shore)
Possible threat to navigation from collisions due to
the low profile of the wave energy devices above the
water, making them undetectable either by direct
sighting or by radar. Also possible is the interference

1.

www.pelamiswave.com

2.

www.mit.edu

3.

www.studentsphere.com

4.

www.ebuzz.com

5.

www.howstuffswork.com