Enel Green Power grabs H24 wave device

 
Enel Green Power (EGP) has bought the H24 wave energy device from the Italian tidal and wave energy players 40South Energy, and Elements Works.

H24 represents the first EGP’s wave energy harvesting device as the company lays the groundwork for the development of a new technological line with ‘huge potential’.

EGP deemed the move as the ‘first big step toward potential future advantages for Enel’, as it allows for industrial development of the technology through the positioning of the machines of this kind in specific niche markets that will then allow experimentation, which could be useful for a later increase in size.

Armando Giacomi, Head of Innovation Business Opportunities in Marine Energy for EGP, said: “The increase in size and ‘multistep’ configurations suited to oceanic wave conditions are the real challenge in the medium-term. Creating an array of marine machines of dozens of MW each without occupying space or visually altering it is the challenge that awaits us, especially at those latitudes in which the resource is enormous and not seasonal, like Chile or South Africa.”

EGP said that it will now be able to identify the most interesting production sites where plants could be placed in the future and, at the same time, acquire the knowledge and skills necessary for the management of machines of this productive chain.

H24 was developed 40South Energy, and Elements Works, and was first deployed off Italy in November 2015 as part of Marina di Pisa project.

The device consists of a guiding part located on the sea floor, or on a support structure, and of a moving part above it, which moves according to waves or tides.

EGP, part of Enel Group, is dedicated to the development and management of renewable energy projects.