Islay LIMPET was the world's first commercial wave power device and was connected to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

's National Grid.

History

Wave energy power plant, Islay - geograph

Islay LIMPET (Land Installed Marine Power Energy Transmitter) was developed and operated by

Wavegen Wavegen Limited (later Voith Hydro Wavegen Limited) was a wave energy company based in Inverness, Scotland. It was founded in 1990 by Allan Thomson. It was sold to Voith Hydro in 2005, and they closed the company in 2013. History In 2000, Waveg ...

in cooperation with

Queen's University Belfast , mottoeng = For so much, what shall we give back? , top_free_label = , top_free = , top_free_label1 = , top_free1 = , top_free_label2 = , top_free2 = , established = , closed = , type = Public research university , parent = ...

. Following the construction of a 75 kW prototype in 1991, a 500 kW unit was built in 2000 at Claddach Farm on the Rhinns of Islay on the Scottish island of

Islay Islay ( ; gd, Ìle, sco, Ila) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The isl ...

. The capacity was later downgraded to 250 kW.

Technology

Decommissioned Islay Limpet wave power plant

Islay LIMPET is a shoreline device using an

Oscillating Water Column Oscillating water columns (OWCs) are a type of wave energy converter that harness energy from the oscillation of the seawater inside a chamber or hollow caused by the action of waves. OWCs have shown promise as a renewable energy source with low e ...

to drive air in and out of a pressure chamber through a

Wells turbine The Wells turbine is a low-pressure Wind turbine, air turbine that rotates continuously in one direction independent of the direction of the air flow. Its blades feature a symmetrical airfoil with its plane of symmetry in the plane of rotation an ...

. The chamber of the LIMPET is an inclined concrete tube with its opening below the water level. External wave action causes the water level in the chamber to oscillate. This variation in water level alternately compresses and decompresses trapped air above, which causes air to flow backwards and forwards through a pair of contra-rotating turbines.

Decommissioning

The plant has been decommissioned, and as of 2018 all installations except the concrete construction making up the wave chamber have been removed.

Related installations

Based on this design, a 16-turbine plant was built in the Bay of Biscay in Spain, the

Mutriku Breakwater Wave Plant The Mutriku Breakwater Wave Plant is a wave power plant constructed by Ente Vasco de la Energía (EVE), the Basque energy agency, in the bay of Mutriku in the Bay of Biscay. It is the world's first breakwater wave power plant with a multiple turbi ...

, which was fully operational and handed over to the company in 2011.

Footnotes

External links

Islay LIMPET wave power plant (Wavegen website)

LIMPET at Queen's University Belfast
{{Sustainable development in Scotland Islay Buildings and structures in Argyll and Bute Wave farms in Scotland