‘Ocean Wave Energy Converter’ developed to generate electricity from sea waves
- Recently IIT-Madras has developed ‘Ocean Wave Energy Converter’ to generate electricity from ocean waves.
- This Ocean Wave Energy Converter has been named Sindhuja. The converter consists of a floating buoy, a spar and an electrical module.
- The buoy moves up and down with the waves. A hole is made in its center and a fixed spar is fixed in it.
- When this buoy moves up and down, its motion generates energy. This energy is used in the generation of electricity.
- This can help India meet the energy needs of its islands. It could also help meet the climate change target of producing 500 GW (gigawatts) of renewable energy by 2030.
- Tidal waves and ocean thermal energy are stored in sea water. This makes it possible to generate 40 GW wave energy in India.
- Tidal energy is generated due to the gravitational force between the Earth, the Sun and the Moon.
- Wave energy is generated due to wind blowing on the surface of the sea.
- Ocean thermal energy is generated by the temperature difference (thermal gradient) between ocean surface water and deep ocean water.
Key Benefits:
- There is no pollution, it is renewable energy, the density of available energy is high,
- Compared to some other renewable energy sources, its energy production can be estimated. Also, there is less possibility of fluctuations in power generation etc.
Key Challenges:
- Initially the cost is very high,
- This can pose a threat to marine life and shipping,
- It is confined to a particular location and there is a risk of damage to the power equipment due to natural calamities.
Source – The Hindu
