Israel launches wave energy power plant
And can Singapore harness wave energy?
Israel just launched its first wave energy power plant at Jaffa Port. Can Singapore do something similar?
According to media reports, Israel's first sea wave energy power plant by Eco Wave Power will launch in Jaffa Port this Thursday.
Wave energy
The pilot station will generate electricity from sea waves.
- Connected to existing structures like breakwaters.
- The floaters rise and fall with the waves.
- Energy stored in a hydraulic motor.
- Converted into electricity via onshore generator.
Israel constructs breakwaters primarily to protect its coastline from erosion and rising sea levels.
Some 250 to 300 MW of electricity can potentially be produced using this solution.
Smart controls will lift the floaters out of the water during storms to prevent damage.
What about Singapore?
Can we harness wave energy in Singapore and use the renewable energy to power our data centres?
While there is no minimum wave height to harness wave energy, higher waves produce substantially more power. Waves of 2 to 3 metres are considered ideal.
Literature I've seen pegs 1 metre as needed for effective operation, though waves as low as 0.5 metres in height can allow wave energy devices to generate some power.
Unfortunately, Singapore's seas are relatively calm, with average wave heights of 0.1 to 0.2 metres. Whoops.
Guess it's back to the plan to blanket the entire island (and reservoirs) with solar panels, and to import renewable energy through a pan-Asia energy grid.
