14 DAY TRIAL // In a few years' time, Scotland's Atlantic coastline is to be home to the world's largest wave farm.
These waters are well known for constantly moving back and forth, which is why specialists suspect that the farm will be able to deliver a steady supply of environmentally-friendly energy.
In fact, the engineers who worked on designing this farm say that, according to their estimates, its energy generating capacity will be one of 40MW.
The power produced at this wave farm will be more than enough to meet the energy demands of 30,000 households on a yearly basis, Inhabitat reports.
They explain that the farm will owe its energy generating potential to the fact that, unlike solar energy and wind power, the movements of the Atlantic Ocean’s waters work around the clock.
In other words, the farm will keep producing energy even when the sun is down and when local winds happen to be calm.
Aquamarine Power, the company in charge of implementing this green-oriented project, is confident that its workers will have succeeded in building the infrastructure and installing the devices needed in order to harvest wave power by 2018 at the latest.
The wave devices this company wishes to install in these waters are known as Oysters. They are fitted with a hinged flap that generates power when moving along with the waves that come its way.
Spokespersons for Aquamarine Power say that, in order for the wave farm to reach the desired energy generating capacity, 40-50 such devices will have to be installed along the coast at Lag na Greine, near to Fivepenny Borve, Lewis.
Lang Banks, the current director for WWF Scotland, commented on this project as follows:
“This announcement is a fantastic boost for Scotland's marine renewables sector and will put Lewis firmly on the world map when it comes to wave energy.”
“Alongside energy saving measures, wave power and other renewables have a critical role to play in helping Scotland reduce climate emissions, create jobs and generate export opportunities,” he added.