Found an interesting piece about an ocean wave energy system called the Manchester Bobber, designed by a team at the University of Manchester. The system basically floats out in the ocean and captures energy from the up and down bobbing motion caused by waves. The team is trying to scale up the design to a point where it becomes commercially viable, and they even envision using old decommissioned offshore oil rigs as possible platforms for the system.

“The project team sees the Manchester Bobber as a key international development at the forefront of the renewable energy sector,” according to the article in Renewable Energy Access.

My only question is how economical it would be to build a system that could transmit electricity from a remote ocean Bobber to the mainland? I’m far from an expert on this, but it seems to me the key to any wave or tidal system is to keep it as close to shore as possible, either in densely populated areas where energy demand is high or in remote areas where traditional methods of providing power are too expensive.

Wave and tidal energy technologies are quite fascinating and don’t get their fair share of coverage. It’s estimated that wave power from North American waters could supply 5 to 10 per cent of the power needs of the United States by 2020. Meanwhile, scientists and researchers figure there is 3,000 gigawatts of tidal energy in our oceans, though I recall that only about 60 gigawatts of that is considered economically attainable. Canada has great wave and tidal resources — specifically Vancouver Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. In British Columbia, the power utility BC Hydro has been working on a wave power project. “The western side of Vancouver Island has approximately 8.25 Gigawatts of wave power incident, making wave energy a likely source of alternative energy in the future,” according to one government research paper.

That said, I’m not aware of many Canadian companies in this space. About a year ago I saw a presentation from Martin Burger, CEO and president of a Vancouver-based company called Blue Energy Canada Inc., and I was quite impressed with what he had to say.

At the heart of Blue Energy’s technology is an underwater vertical turbine system that captures tidal movement to produce electricity. The turbine was designed by veteran aerospace engineer Barry Davis, who was involved in the development of Canada’s most famous fighter jet, the Avro Arrow.

Burger claimed his company’s technology can, under certain conditions, produce electricity at 2 cents per kilowatt hour. He said 200 coastal communities in B.C. and Alaska could benefit from the system, and countries such as Scotland, Chile and Korea have expressed interest.

What I found very cool about these turbines is that they can be built into physical structures, such as auto and railway bridges that cross over water, creating what Burger called a “tidal fence.” When I heard that, I got an image of these things as Lego blocks that could scale up or down depending on the need and the space. The idea is that bridges around the world that cross over water could eventually double as massive, emission-free power plants, able to produce 500 megawatts or more.

I haven’t heard much from Blue Energy since that presentation last October, but I like to hope they’re making some waves, so to speak. If anybody reading this knows of other cool wave or tidal energy companies, or have an update on Blue Energy, please do let me know.

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