How does the ocean produce electricity?

thewaternetwork.com

In today's world, the search for such a clean form of energy is increasing which in any case is not harmful to the environment. That is why the US Department of Energy and the US Navy together with Northwest Energy Innovations, an Oregon-based company, are exploring new paths to produce clean and renewable energy - the Wave Energy Converter being developed.

The company has designed a prototype of a 45-ton first-generation energy converter and named it Azura. Unlike other energy converters, Azura is capable of producing energy from the movement of the waves as they rise and fall as well as their forward or backward motion. Those who designed this device had the challenge of producing electricity from the saltwater of the sea and that the device could withstand the different speeds of the sea waves. They did these things.

In June 2015, Azura was tried at a depth of about 100 feet at the US Navy's Sea Energy Test Site in Coneyohe Bay, Oahu, Hawaii. The device successfully produced grid energy for the Hawaiian Islands. Due to this success, for the first time, electricity generated by ocean waves reached American homes. Although it has been able to produce only 20 kilowatts of energy in this experiment, the US Department of Energy says that such other equipment can provide much cleaner energy in the country's coastal cities.

Azura is connected to Hawaii's power grid to power production. This test is an attempt to commercially use this wave converter technique. Azura's technology is being supported by the US Department of Energy, the US Navy, and the University of Hawaii. The University of Hawaii is independently tasked with analyzing data received from Azura to assess its potential. These data will also be sent to the US Department of Energy and Navy so that they can use them in wave energy technology and renewable energy from the ocean.

Now the question arises as to how does Azura works? In this, electricity is generated by the cyclic flow relative to the water between the two ends of the device. Here a generator is present which converts the kinetic energy into electricity and which is sent to the grid by means of a cable below the surface of the water. Azura is different from other energy converters because it can rotate 360 ​​degrees or fully and can also produce power from front or back waves. That is, in a way, it is able to make energy from the waves of the sea in all kinds of waves, and this is where its ability surpasses others.

Earlier, North West Energy Innovations installed a device at the test site of the North West National Marine Renewable Energy Center in the coastal areas of Oregon in 2012, which provided data and information to help improve Azura's energy generation capacity and make it more sustainable. . It continues to supply electricity to the Hawaiian grid even when partially submerged in huge waves. The results from Azura's test will be used by the US Department of Energy and North West Energy Innovations to design a new generator that can operate in waves of 100 to 150 feet high and generate up to one megawatt of electricity. Such electricity can illuminate hundreds of homes.