ENEA and the Polytechnic of Turin present the new version of the PEndulum Wave Energy Converter, a device created ad hoc to exploit the waves of the Mediterranean.
(Rinnovabili.it) – Producing electricity from the sea with an innovative, low-cost system, also suitable for closed basins and capable of competing with more mature renewable technologies. This is the objective with which the project of the PEndulum Wave Energy Converter (PEWEC), marine wave converter.
The initiative bears the signature of ENEA and the Polytechnic of Turin which today present an advanced version of the system. Tested for the first time in Rome in 2016 on a scale of 1:12, the apparatus is mainly composed of a floating hull moored on the seabed and a pendulum connected to the shaft of an electric generator which is integral with the hull structure. The oscillation of the pendulum allows to produce electricity from the sea, using low-height and high-frequency waves.
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“PEWEC 2.0 has some technological improvements over the previous version “, explains Gianmaria Sannino, head of the ENEA Laboratory of Climate Modeling and Impacts. “A 1:25 scale prototype was tested at the Naval Tank of the Federico II University of Naples to study the response of the hull and moorings to extreme waves “.
The experimentation exposed the PEWEC to particularly high waves, both regular and irregular, artificially generated inside the test basin. The result? The device showed excellent sealing capacity and electrical production even in extreme conditions. “This kind of evidence – adds Sannino – are essential for evaluating the performance and resistance of converters even in critical storm wave situations “.
The team’s next step will be to develop a 1 to 1 scale model to be installed along the “most energetic” coasts of the Mediterranean, such as those of western Sardinia or the Strait of Sicily. The final version will have a power of 525 kW. And it will measure 15 meters in length, 23 in width and 7.5 in height for a weight including ballast of over 1,000 tons.
The project also sees researchers engaged in cost reduction and an increase in efficiency.
“The team of the Politecnico di Torino Lab has developed advanced numerical codes for the development of the technology and the prediction of the manufacturability of the PEWEC device”, explains Giuliana Mattiazzo of the Polytechnic of Turin, head of the research center MOREnergy Lab. “SGenetic optimization codes have been adopted […] to reduce the energy cost of the device. The experimental tests carried out at the Naval Basin of Naples were instead fundamental to demonstrate and validate the promising numerical results obtained “.
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“To estimate the potential market in the Mediterranean basin, we start from these data: in our country there are more than 50 smaller islands with an average population of about 2,500 inhabitants, an average per capita consumption of 6 kWh / g and an energy cost very high”, adds Sannino. “A dozen of these devices could produce electricity for a country of 3 thousand inhabitants, significantly contributing to counteracting pollution and erosion by reducing the energy of the waves that break on the coast, without significantly impacting flora. and marine fauna “.
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