Penguin seen off Cornwall

 
Penguin wave energy device, developed by the Finnish wave energy company Wello Oy, has arrived to Falmouth harbour ahead of trials at Wave Hub set to take place later this year.

This is the first out of three planned Penguin devices that will undergo testing at Wave Hub as part of the CEFOW Project.

The device arrived at Falmouth harbour following an 8 day tow from Scotland where it has been tested since 2013.

Wello’s Penguin converts the waves to electricity with continuous rotational movement.

In a floating element, motion energy is directly captured by a generator, resulting in conversion from movement to electricity, thus avoiding the need for hydraulics.

Aki Luukkainen, CEO of Wello Oy, said: “We are excited to start working with Falmouth Dockyard to prepare the device for a long term deployment at Wave Hub. I am confident that with help of the other CEFOW partners and local supply chain we will deploy on schedule and start generating power.”

Mikko Huumo, Manager of R&D Growth Projects at Fortum Corporation, a multi-national energy utility which leads the CEFOW project, said: “We are on track to get everything ready so that the Penguin will be grid connected at Wave Hub in summer 2016 as planned. Even though we have still plenty to do before all the three devices are deployed at Wave Hub, I am very pleased to see the first device arriving safely at Falmouth.”

To remind, the Clean Energy From Ocean Waves (CEFOW) project was granted €17 million last year through the European Commission’s research and innovation programme Horizon 2020.

The aim of the project is to advance the use of the Penguin wave energy converter, in electricity grid-connected ocean conditions.