Italy-based Wave for Energy plans to deploy its ISWEC wave energy device off Sicily in the second week of July.
The company originally planned to deploy the device in March off the island of Pantelleria, Sicily, but the deployment was delayed due to unsuitable weather conditions.
Tidal Energy Today spoke to Paolo Gherra, Project Manager at Wave for Energy, who confirmed that the company is looking at the next deployment window in the second week of July, subject to favorable sea conditions.
According to Gherra, the tugboat that will be used to transport the ISWEC device from its current location in Mazara del Vallo to the deployment site off Pantelleria island will be provided by the shipping company SPA C/O Rimorchiatori Laziali SPA.
The subsea cables that will be used to connect the device to Pantelleria island’s grid have arrived to the island. Wave for Energy is waiting for the permission to lay the cable, and expects to receive it by the end of July.
The permission to connect the device is expected to be granted in September, according to Paolo Gherra.
“These permissions are important to fully complete the deployment but, at the same time, they are not a big issue for us, because we have installed on the device some resistors to dissipate the electricity produced before we get the connection to the grid, in order to test the system even if it isn’t connected yet to the grid,” Gherra added.
The energy produced from the prototype will be donated to the municipality of Pantelleria, following the approval to connect it to the island’s grid expected to be granted in October.
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Image: Wave for Energy