Chennai: Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) have developed an ‘Ocean Wave Energy Converter’ that could generate electricity from sea waves. The institute made this announcement after the device has completed the sea trials successfully.
The sea trials to check efficiency of the device were successfully completed during the second week of November by placing the device at a location about six km off the coast of Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, at a location with a depth of 20 metres. This device targets generating 1MW of power from ocean waves in the next three years, IIT-M sources said on Monday.
The success of this project will help fulfil several objectives such as the UN Ocean Decade and Sustainable Development Goals. India’s goals include deep water missions, clean energy and achieving a blue economy. It could help India meet its climate change-related goals of generating 500 GW of electricity by 2030 through renewable energy.
The device is targeted towards remote offshore locations that require reliable electricity and communication either by supplying electric power to payloads that are integrated directly in or on the device or located in its vicinity as on the seabed and in the water column.
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The targeted stakeholders are the oil and gas, defence and security installations and communication sectors.
Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, professor Abdus Samad, who has been working for over a decade on wave energy, lead the mission. He established a ‘Wave Energy and Fluids Engineering Laboratory’ (WEFEL) at IIT Madras. His team designed and tested a scaled-down model. The lab is also researching other applications for this technology such as producing power for smaller devices for the ocean like navigational buoys and data buoys, among others.
Highlighting the impact of this project, Prof Samad, said, “India has a 7,500 km long coastline capable of producing 54 GW of power, satisfying a substantial amount of the country’s energy requirement. Seawater stores tidal, wave and Ocean thermal energy. Among them, the harnessing of 40GW wave energy is possible in India.”
