Why West Wave?

The UK is well placed in terms of marine energy. There is significant wave resource around the country, some of the best in the world. It has been estimated that marine renewables could meet 15% to 20% of current UK electricity demand.

E.ON is committed to helping build the UK’s marine capabilities to harness the potential of our seas. West Wave will allow us to learn about wave energy developments and gain experience of the marine environment.

The West Wave Project would:

• Supply enough electricity for up to 3,000 homes
• Displace around 11,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions per year

Ocean Prospect

We are developing West Wave jointly with Ocean Prospect, a subsidiary of Wind Prospect.

Wave Hub

West Wave will be located at Wave Hub which is being developed by the South West Regional Development Agency. Wave Hub is effectively an underwater “socket” providing the necessary infrastructure to connect West Wave and 3 similar wave energy projects to the electricity grid. A planning application for Wave Hub was submitted in June 2006 and deployment is expected in 2008/09.

Pelamis

West Wave will utilise Ocean Power Delivery’s Pelamis Wave Energy Converter which is rated at 750kW. The Pelamis is 120-150 metres long, 3.5m in diameter and weighs approximately 750 tonnes.

'Sea-Snake' animation - Windows Media (25MB)