Atmocean, a US wave energy developer, has retrieved its wave energy system that was deployed off Ilo, Peru.
The system was deployed on July 5, 2015, and remained on sea trials for three weeks.
Atmocean stated the system experienced wave heights of 4 m over diurnal cycles during the deployment.
The deployed demonstration system consisted of 5 pumps and 5 buoys, and represents 1/3 of the complete commercial system.
On their social media, the company announced the redeployment of the system in October following the implementation of the lessons learned from this deployment.
“Work continues as we design new components for a durability test, set for deployment in early October. Interest continues to build towards commercialization in 2016,” Atmocean said.
Atmocean wave energy system operates by capturing the rising and falling motion of ocean waves to drive a piston in a cylinder which pressurizes the seawater. By connecting several seawater pumps together as an array, this pressurized seawater can be sent to the onshore converters.
The system is capable of producing both electricity and fresh water out of sea water through desalination process, but for the time being the company will focus only on fresh water production, because the production of electricity is currently not a viable option due to cheap Peruvian energy market.
Images: Atmocean