Wave power projects designed to generate green electricity and desalinated water are in their experimental
phases in Gran Canaria
Two trial energy projects Wave to Energy and Water (W2EW) and Competitive Wave Energy on Islands (CWEI), both under the umbrella of Danish company Wavepiston, are set to enter their final experimental phase in 2023. The infrastructure and maintenance involved have been designed to supply islands and isolated coastal communities so are neither too costly nor too complex.
The combined cycle W2EW project, financed with European Regional Development Funds (ERDF), envisages harnessing wave energy to either deliver a large-scale alternative power source or to work in parallel with solar photovoltaic and offshore wind farms. It will supply electricity to the grid at 350,000 kWh/year as well as 28,000 m3 of desalinated water through reverse osmosis. Part of this infrastructure is already in Gran Canaria. Wavepiston (and its partners Vryhof Anchors, Fiellberg and Enermed) expect to have the collectors in place (delayed due to the conflict in Ukraine) in this first quarter of the year and to have the complete equipment installed by the second quarter.
The CWEI project expects to supply the grid with 547,000 kWh/year, per system (one turbine generator and 24 collectors), which is enough to supply 140 standard households.
Experimental implementation of the CWEI system (at a 10% scale) is currently underway at the PLOCAN consortium (Canarian Ocean Platform) facilities in Gran Canaria. This is also the site of the wave-powered desalination project being carried out by Norwegian company Ocean Oasis with their prototype floating desalination plant, Gaia.