Azura is a
wave power
Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC).
Waves are generated by win ...
device currently being tested in
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
.
It is connected to the municipal
grid
Grid, The Grid, or GRID may refer to:
Common usage
* Cattle grid or stock grid, a type of obstacle is used to prevent livestock from crossing the road
* Grid reference, used to define a location on a map
Arts, entertainment, and media
* News ...
providing electricity to Hawaii. According to the
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...
, this is the first time that a wave power generator has been officially verified to be supplying energy to a power grid in North America. This has been verified by the
University of Hawaii
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
.
The device can generate 20
kilowatts of power.
The device is at the
Marine Corps Base Hawaii's Wave Energy Test Site (WETS) on the north shore of
Kaneohe Bay, Oahu. It is situated on the surface of a 30-meter-deep
berth where it is being monitored.
This prototype (TRL 5/6) was developed b
Northwest Energy Innovations (NWEI)with the support of the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
, the United States Department of Energy, and the University of Hawaii. It will be in operation for a 1-year period of assessment.
During that time, the University of Hawaii will be responsible for the collection and analysis of data.
Azura was originally named "WET-NZ" from "Wave Energy Technology-New Zealand".
Background
Development was in 2006 by Callaghan Innovation and was first called WET-NZ. The initial concept was called the TRL 1, entered the micro-modeling stage under the name TRL 3, and is being tested in the open ocean with large scale prototypes called TRL 5/6 deployed near Christchurch, New Zealand
Description and operation
Azura floats on the surface of the sea and weighs 45 tons (41 tonnes). It has a unique floating mechanism that can rotate 360 degrees. This enables it to extract power from
horizontal (surge) as well as vertical (heave) wave motion.
It has reserve buoyancy that is very low, allowing it to partially submerge beneath large waves.
![Wave float with piston rod](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Wave_float_with_piston_rod.gif)
Azura is a
point absorber. This means that it uses a floating surface mechanism to absorb the energy of waves from different directions. This is the most common type of deepwater wave energy generator.
The generator is driven with a high-pressure hydraulics system.
The wave motion is captured by the circular rotation of the floating mechanism, and translated to crankshafts within the Azura. These crankshafts provide the motion for the high pressure hydraulic system.
Environmental Considerations
Many agencies have overseen and conducted assessments on the project prior to implementation. These included US Army Corps of Engineers, the
US Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and maritime law enforcement, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...
, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Marine Fisheries Service. Oregon-based Department of State Lands, Department of Land Conservation and Development, and Department of Fish and Wildlife reviewed the project as well.
Preliminary tests
The initial phase of development used a smaller prototype that was tested in a
wave tank
A wave tank is a laboratory setup for observing the behavior of surface waves. The typical wave tank is a box filled with liquid, usually water, leaving open or air-filled space on top. At one end of the tank, an actuator generates waves; the ...
.
A second prototype was then installed in 2012 for a 6-week period at the
Northwest National Marine Renewable Energy Center’s test site off the coast of
Oregon
Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
in an open-sea area. During that test, the device was exposed to wave heights of up to 3.75-meters in a 12 to 14-second
sea state
In oceanography, sea state is the general condition of the free surface on a large body of water—with respect to wind waves and swell—at a certain location and moment. A sea state is characterized by statistics, including the wave height, ...
.
Both tests were successful.
Future plans
NWEI will use information gathered during the current test to further develop the project. With the Department of Energy providing an additional $5 million, NWEI plans to modify Azura to increase its efficiency and improve reliability. A new design will then be tested which will be full-scale and made to generate between 500 kilowatts and one
megawatt
The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...
of power.
At the end of 2017, Northwest Energy Innovations (NWEI) intends to install a full-scale model. The 500-kilowatt to 1-megawatt generator will be situated in a 60 to 80-meter-deep (100–150 feet) berth. One megawatt is sufficient to provide electricity to several hundred homes.
See also
*
Wave farm
Wave power is the capture of energy of wind waves to do useful work – for example, electricity generation, water desalination, or pumping water. A machine that exploits wave power is a wave energy converter (WEC).
Waves are generated by wind ...
*
List of wave power stations
The following page lists most power stations that run on wave power. Wave farms are classified into 8 types based on the technology used, such as Surface-following attenuator, Point absorber, Oscillating wave surge converter, Oscillating water co ...
References
External links
*
Diagram
{{Natural resources
Wave energy converters
Energy in Hawaii
Industrial buildings and structures in Hawaii
2015 in the environment
2015 introductions