Cheap energy Sea Snake to be deployed in Orkney next year - 06/10/2009
Major energy supplier E.On is working with Pelamis Wave Power to deploy the company's second-generation Sea Snake in Orkney in the spring of 2010.
The device comprises four sections that generate electricity by harnessing the motion of waves and it is scheduled to be deployed at Orkney's European Marine Energy Centre, where it will be tested, reports Reuters.
Wave power is more expensive to develop than the higher profile wind turbine technology, but the Carbon Trust estimates 20 per cent of Britain's future energy demands could potentially be met by harnessing the waves.
Amaan Lafayette, E.On's marine development manager, told the news agency: "We would like to see a small-scale plant of our own in water in 2015-2017, built on what we are doing here. It's a kind of generation we haven't done before."
Developments in wave power could enable more people to switch energy to cleaner resources in the coming years, while the government also plans to develop more offshore wind farms.
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