Wave energy specialist Bombora Wave Power today announced it has been selected by Enzen to supply a grid connected wave farm to be located in the Atlantic Ocean on the north side of Lanzarote, the fourth largest of the Spanish Canary Islands, off the coast of northern Africa.
Enzen has identified that Lanzarote has a large and consistent wave energy resource along its northern coastline and Bombora’s fully submerged mWaveTM wave energy converters will be installed to deliver clean renewable energy, whilst preserving the island’s rugged and pristine coastal environment.
Enzen, as a part of the strategic collaboration agreement with the governing body of Lanzarote, Cabildo de Lanzarote (refer here), are partnering with Bombora for this commercial development of Bombora’s mWaveTM product.
Harish Gopal, CEO Enzen Spain said,
“Our commitment to the Cabildo de Lanzarote, is to lead their transition of energy generation to renewable sources, developing energy solutions with low or zero impact on the physical environment to ensure conservation of land on the island. We are delighted that as part of that programme we have selected Bombora as one of our key partners to supply a technology solution to enable us to generate energy with no visual pollution.”
The first phase of the project will see up to 4 megawatts (MW) of generating capacity through the deployment of an array of 1.5MW mWavesTM. The power generated by the submerged wave farm will supplement the island’s existing electricity supply which is currently produced largely by a diesel-fuelled power station.
The Lanzarote project is another major step in the rapid growth of Bombora’s mWaveTM technology. The project will follow the installation of a 1.5MW mWaveTM in the Marine Energy Testing Area off the coast of Pembrokeshire, Wales. Due for completion in the summer of 2020, this demonstration project will run concurrently with the consenting process for the Lanzarote wave farm.
Bombora’s Managing Director Sam Leighton commented:
“This grid connected wave farm project is a very exciting opportunity for both Bombora and the people of Lanzarote and will place Lanzarote at the global forefront of wave energy commercialisation. Enzen and Bombora
are now engaging with the local supply chain in Lanzarote to deliver the project with Bombora providing specialist engineering support from our European headquarters in Wales.”
Bombora has developed a membrane style wave energy converter called an ‘mWaveTM’. Located 10 meters beneath the ocean’s surface, similar to a fully submerged reef, it is invisible from the shoreline. As ocean waves pass over the mWaveTM, the membranes deflect pumping air through a turbine to generate electricity. Electricity is directly transferred to shore via a submerged cable.
The mWave is unique among wave energy converters as it simultaneously addresses the ‘cost of energy’ and ‘ocean wave survivability’ challenges. Bombora is currently completing a 1.5MW mWaveTM product validation project in Pembrokeshire, Wales with the support of the Welsh Government and a European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) grant. Bombora is simultaneously developing a global pipeline of commercial wave farm projects.
