US-based wave energy developer, Columbia Power Technologies, will test its prototype direct-drive generator at the National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) in Colorado starting this week.
The permanent-magnet generator is over 6 meters in diameter, with a 500kW capacity, and includes Columbia Power’s novel air-gap control system, the company informed.
The project, co-sponsored by Columbia Power and the US Department of Energy, is an important risk-reduction step prior to deployment of a full-scale StingRAY wave power device at the US Navy’s Wave Energy Test Site in Hawaii, USA.
Columbia Power’s StingRAY wave power system uses the floats and spar that independently react to the shape of the passing ocean waves.
Each float is directly coupled by a drive shaft to its own rotary generator. As each float rotates, so does its generator, which produces electricity.
The system is designed for deployment in water depths of over 60 meters, and arrayed in wave energy farms.