August 19, 2021
The untapped potential of ocean wave energy is vast – it has been estimated that the power of coastal waves around the world each year is equivalent to annual global electricity production. With over 35,000km of coastline, Australia is ideally placed to tap into this power source. Analysis shows Australia could produce twice its current electricity output by harvesting just 17% of its wave energy. But the challenges of developing technologies that can efficiently extract that natural power and withstand the harsh ocean environment have kept wave energy stuck at experimental stage. Now a research team led by RMIT University has created a wave energy converter that is twice as efficient at harvesting power as any similar technologies developed to date. The innovation relies on a world-first, dual-turbine design. Lead researcher Professor Xu Wang said wave energy was one of the most promising sources of clean, reliable and renewable power. “While wind and solar dominate the renewable market, they are available only 20-30% of the time,” Wang…