German wave energy units put into operation off Greece

German wave energy company SINN Power has installed and commissioned two of its ‘improved’ wave energy converter modules on the largest Greek island of Crete.

In an official ceremony with 70 international guests, the second generation of the patented SINN Power wave energy technology – supported by the German Federal Government – was put into operation on June 29, 2018, SINN Power informed.

In the months to come, SINN Power will gather data on the functionality and electrical output of the modules under different wave conditions, according to the company.

SINN Power plans to install three more modules on the breakwater wall in Heraklion, using the financial support of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and a recent investment by the Schweizer Kapital Global Impact Funds.

Besides the technical validation, the tests will allow more specific prognoses for the cost-effectiveness of the newly developed technology.

Once the further three WECs are in place, they will allow for testing the electrical connection of several generators in practice and thus serve the further development of the innovative wave energy technology, SINN Power said earlier.

Following the successful completion of the test on the wall-mounted wave energy modules, SINN Power said earlier it will proceed to test a floating version of its wave energy converter technology.

The planned floating wave energy converter will consist of 18 modules, according to the developer.

If the technology continues to work as expected, the first commercial off-grid project is already in the pipeline, SINN Power noted.