An Israeli company that currently operates a wave-based power generating
pilot plant in Haifa has sold two new models to China. If it proves economical,
prospects for further sales to China and others would seem to be very bright.
Thanks to my friend Jeff Stonberg for bringing this to my attention.
The Israelis’ claim the capital cost for their wave-generating station is far
less than any other alternative including coal, gas, wind or solar. Just on an
intuitive basis and specifying that I know less than nothing about the subject,
it sort of makes sense. After all, wave action is constant. It does not seem
to require a great deal of storage capacity since the electricity can be
processed and piped almost directly into the grid, and the system should be
mechanical and perhaps fairly simple.
In January I reported about an American company that is proving out its own wave based
power generation system and claims costs of under 4 cents per KW hour. If the
economics prove out, wave power could well become an important part of the
petro-to-electrons transition program that will need to happen world wide over
the next 25 or so years. Here is a report on the Israeli project:
Israeli company to build sea wave power plants in China
By ISRAEL21c staff
July 10, 2008
Israeli company S.D.E. Energy, developer of an innovative technology for
generating electricity from sea waves, has signed an agreement for selling sea
wave power plants in China for an undisclosed sum.
Construction of the power
plants will be financed by investors from Hong Kong and China. Two joint venture
companies, formed in Hong Kong for the purpose of the agreement by S.D.E. and
its investors, will build an initial model in Guangzhou province in southern
China. Should the model prove to be successful, it will launch the establishment
of sea wave power plants throughout China.
The S.D.E. process is subject to
the approval of the government of China, which it intends to target as the sole
customer for the electricity generated.
Electricity shortages in China are
worsening every day and current energy sources are problematic: fossil fuels
increase the country’s already intolerable levels of air and environmental
pollution; nuclear power plants and hydroelectric stations are highly
susceptible to earthquake damage; typhoons make building wind farms extremely
difficult, and solar systems are costly.
With prices of crude oil rising
fast, there is new interest in alternative sources of energy, and the idea of
generating power from sea waves is becoming increasingly attractive, according
to S.D.E.
The Tel Aviv company’s system produces renewable and clean energy
from sea waves, which it claims have the potential to supply four times more
energy per square meter than wind power. The system’s advantages are high
efficiency, ability to modulate energy storage capabilities, and relatively low
cost for construction and generation of electricity.
According to S.D.E.,
the cost of erecting a one megawatt wave power station starts at $650,000,
compared with $900,000 for a similarly-sized natural gas station; $1.5 million
for a coal-fired or wind-powered station; and $3 million for a solar power
station.
US investors have taken note of S.D.E.’s advances, managing
director Shmuel Ovadia told ISRAEL21c. “We’re currently in talks to raise $100
million from US investors, and we’re negotiating building a 30 MW sea wave power
plant in San Francisco at a cost of $20 million.”
The first commercial,
full-scale model of the system, capable of generating 40 electrical kilowatts
(eKW) has been working successfully for a year and is located at the Jaffa Port
in Tel Aviv-Yafo.
