Offshore wave power gets support
The wave to compressed air technology developed by Offshore Wave Energy and IT Power has been boosted by a grant from the South West Regional Development Agancy (SWRDA) together with contributions from existing shareholders
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Invented by Professor John Kemp, and originally revealed in the April 2003 edition of Eureka, the intention is to come up with an optimised full scale design of the machine, now known as, “Grampus”, taking its name from the Grampus Griseus or Risso's Dolphin.
Running alongside a long term physical and mathematical modelling research programme in the Department of Engineering at the University of Southampton, the new study will focus on the internal configuration in order to maximise performance and efficiency. At the same time, it will also consider mooring, survivability, fatigue, and production and manufacturing methods and approaches. This will involve a hydrodynamics programme involving comprehensive CFD modelling and a series of tank tests in a selected wave basin.
