Testing of a new wave energy device is about to begin off the East Anglian coast in England. Six miles off the coast of Southwold a year long trial of a machine that is currently known as Trident Energy 3 will take place.

The company behind the trial is Trident Energy, an Essex-based company. They are hopeful that the trial will get underway by the end of September.

Spokeswoman for Trident Energy, Kate Hill has said, “Trident is looking to develop a marine renewable energy system and this machine uses quite simple technology. It has one moving part which sits on the sea and generates electricity from the movement of the waves.”

The device is being built by marine engineering company Small and Co. in Lowenstoft.

The Trident Energy 3 consists of a small platform measuring about 15sq m. The platform is supported by submerged pontoons anchored to the sea bed. Floats that move up and down through the action of the waves generate power.

Trident Energy 3 utilises a principle known as Direct Energy Conversion Method (DECM) and it has 5 major components:

1. Linear generators which convert straight line mechanical motion into electricity.
2. Floats that rise and fall with the motion of the waves to drive the linear generators.
3. A sea platform to support the floats and generators.
4. An anchoring system to moor the rig.
5. Transmission cables to transmit the generated power back to shore and into the grid.

Wave Power Device  

A key factor to the Trident Energy 3 device is that it only has one moving part, the float generator translator. Relative motion between two components of the linear generator (the translator and the stator) takes place generating electricity. No contact is made between the two parts of the generator with energy conversion being electromagnetic.

Wave Power Device

It is expected that when the device goes into full scale commercial production each rig will have a generating capacity of 1MW. A wave farm with a footprint of 1 square kilometre would be capable of generating 100MW with the right wave conditions.

This latest test project is another step taken in the infant wave power industry that is simply bursting with renewable energy generation potential. As with all of the wave energy projects that are currently in development and trials around the world, there is a lot of potential to be excited about, but there are also a lot of environmental boxes to tick.

Finally there is the question of the cost of the electricity that will be generated by wave power and how it measures against the more mature markets.