BioPower pilot lands at Port Fairy

Australian wave developer BioPower Systems has deployed its 250kW bioWave pilot demonstration unit off Port Fairy in Victoria, Australia.

The bioWave was deployed using a crane-equipped ship which took the device to the site and lowered it into the water.

To enable this the structure was angled slightly, piercing the surface like a diver to avoid any impacts from the waves, before being levelled out and landed on the seabed. Divers monitored the process from below to ensure accurate placement.

BPS chief executive Dr Timothy Finnigan said the powerful swell at the site had stopped for long enough for the installation to be successfully completed.

“Installation of the bioWave in the Southern Ocean marks the culmination of an intensive development phase, and the beginning of a testing and demonstration phase for bioWave,” he said.

“We will now turn our attention to commissioning the plant for operation, and we aim to be delivering electricity into the grid very soon.”

The A$21m project has been in development for three years and has been funded by an A$11m grant from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, A$5m funding from the Victorian government and A$5m funding from BPS.

Acting Arena chief executive Ian Kay said: “BPS has overcome a range of logistical and technical challenges over the better part of a decade, taking BioWAVE through extensive research, design and testing phases. Developing new technologies takes considerable time and resources and government support is crucial for enabling this process.

“The device will be tested and monitored throughout its operation to produce an independent performance assessment that will be shared with the energy industry in line with ARENA’s knowledge sharing agenda.”

The bioWave device is a 26-metre tall oscillating structure designed to sway back and forth beneath the ocean swell, capturing energy from the waves and converting it into electricity that is fed into the grid via an undersea cable.

The design was inspired by undersea plants and the entire device can lie flat on the seabed out of harm’s way during bad weather.

Image: bioWave pilot unit (BioPower Systems)