Mexico to get Wave Energy

AW-Energy, a wave energy technology developer, and ENAL, a Mexican renewable energy developer, have signed a memorandum of understanding to develop, design and deploy a 10MW wave farm off the Pacific coast of Mexico. 

This will make it one of the largest wave farms in the world.
 
The information about the new joint development was made public on November in Finland, in conjunction with the inauguration of AW-Energy’s worlds’ largest wave energy converter test facility located in Järvenpää. 

Gerardo Hiriart, CEO of ENAL said, “This pioneer development to use the energy of the waves, developed in Finland and installed and operated by the specialist of ENAL, could represent the first practical use of the energy of the oceans in Mexico and soon be expanded to other Latin American countries.”

AW-Energy already has commercial projects for its WaveRoller technology underway in Portugal, Ireland, UK, France and on the American continent. 

WaveRoller is a device that converts ocean waves to energy and electricity. The machine operates in near-shore areas (approximately 0.3-2 km from the shore) at depths of between eight and 20 meters. Depending on tidal conditions it is mostly or fully submerged and anchored to the seabed. A single WaveRoller unit (one panel) is rated at between 500kW and 1000kW, with a capacity factor of 25-50 percent depending on wave conditions at the project site.

WaveRoller units feature large ballast tanks that are filled with air so they can be floated to their deployment locations. These tanks can be flooded with water to submerge the unit. Although the wave energy converter remains fully submerged during regular operation, it can be easily re-floated on the surface for maintenance by emptying the ballast tanks.

Farms can include tens of devices. As each WaveRoller is equipped with an on-board electricity generator, the output from many devices can be combined via electricity cables and a substation.