The Basque Energy Agency (EVE), which operates under the auspices of the regional government, describes Mutriku as "the first European plant to supply power using the waves" because, although there are two similar facilities in Portugal and Scotland, they are "oriented toward research rather than energy production".
The Mutriku facility, which was inaugurated last Friday by the President of the Basque Country Patxi Lopez, uses a technology called Oscillating Water Column (OWC), developed by the Scottish company Wavegen, belonging to Voith Hydro. The EVE views the OWC technology as "one of the most mature technologies for harnessing wave energy on the market".
The turbines have been manufactured by the Basque company Voith Hydro at its plant in Tolosa in the Basque province of Guipuzcoa. Mutriku is the first grid-connected ocean energy device to be commissioned in Spain and continental Europe. It boasts 16 turbine chambers with a total installed capacity of 296 kW. According to the EVE, it is a "demonstration plant" that will produce an estimated 600,000 kWh annually, "enough power to supply the needs of 600 people and prevent the emission of 600 tons of carbon dioxide per annum, equivalent to the cleaning effect of 80 hectares of forest”, says the agency.
How an OWC works
The Mutriku facility works using the pressure waves exert on air columns in the sea wall. The plant has 16 air chambers within the sea wall, so that when waves arrive, they push up the air in the chambers driving the turbines. When the waves retreat, the air is sucked out through the turbine, causing the turbine to turn again, always in the same direction. The turbines then move a series of generators to produce electricity. Sea water never comes into contact with the electro-mechanical elements of the installation, prolonging the life of the plant and reducing maintenance costs.
Direct gird connection
All the electricity produced in this way is injected directly into the general distribution grid, which, says the EVE, makes Mutriku "the only one of its kind in the world, since the other two facilities in Portugal and Scotland are prototypes designed for research purposes rather than to generate power; not the case with Mutriku, which is a pre-commercial plant". The total investment for this project amounted to €6.7 million, €2.3 million of which was used to construct the power plant. The EVE also emphasises that Mutriku is "the only marine energy project in Europe supported by the 6th Framework Programme of the European Commission that has been completed and commissioned".
Medium-high energy potential
According to the EVE, the Basque Country’s coastline boasts a medium-high wave energy potential of approximately 24 kW per metre. The Basque government considers that "since the energy potential of the waves along the Basque coast is exceptional and its industrial base ideal, ocean energy represents a forward-looking investment to create a new manufacturing sector with ample growth prospects". In this regard, the EVE describes the BIMEP (Biscay Marine Energy Platform) as "one of the leading marine energy projects currently in development and deployment", which will be a testing centre located in open waters off the Basque coast of Armintza and will allow different technologies for capturing wave energy to be trialled.
For additional information:
