Energy from the sea

Adelaide Review
Friday 16/2/2007 Page: 29

A company behind the eco-village is planning to harness the waves in SA.

The company co-developing the visionary Aldinga Arts EcoVillage is planning to bring leading-edge wave technology to South Australia. The technology makes use of ocean waves to generate electricity, which is then sent to the mainland. Eventually there could be a series of wave farms located five to 10 kilometres offshore from Adelaide, according to Andrew Dickson, development manager for Wind Prospect, which spawned Sustainable Property Developments, the company co-developing Aldinga Arts EcoVillage.

"We've been closely monitoring the technology, it's emerging technology," he says.

"Ultimately, we're renewable energy developers, in the same way that we've developed wind energy projects, we're interested in developing wave and tidal energy in SA. There is significant energy available in waves. There's a higher energy density available in waves than wind and it's more predictable and consistent.

"At the moment the technology is still very expensive but obviously these costs would fall as the technology is further developed and implemented." Wind Prospect has developed and got planning approval for eight wind farms in SA, four of which have gone to construction. That represents almost 300 megawatts of renewable energy, which supplies the national electricity grid.

He says wave technology is environmentally friendly, produces no emissions, doesn't kill birds and is not harmful to sea creatures. The farms would not necessarily be visible from shore: they would be made up of a series of pelamis. A pelami is like a giant metal snake, 120 metres long in four cylindrical sections, which is anchored. Waves make the snake pitch and yaw. This drives hydraulic rams, which in turn drive high-pressure hydraulic fluid through a generator. Electricity is fed to shore via a submarine cable.

Dickson says much of the technology is from the UK, particularly Scotland. He says the wave farms will be vital to maintaining power supply to South Australian homes via the national electricity grid. "The more you distribute the generation sources and have different technologies, the more robust the electricity grid can be," Dickson says.

Dickson's company and its various offshoots are dedicated to environmentally friendly solutions to living including housing and energy supply.

The first commercial wave farm in the world was installed last year near Povoa de Varzim off northern Portugal. The first stage, consisting of three pelamis, costs over $A13 million and supplies the power for 1500 households. Portugal has already put in a preliminary order for another 28 pelamis, to supply more than 15,000 households.

Aldinga Arts EcoVillage is 16 hectares of residential development, all of which is architecturally designed to be environmentally friendly. The entire village, including a community farm, covers 35 hectares.

Features such as solar hot water and rainwater tanks are mandated into the development, which reserves 44 per cent of land as open space. Smoking is banned on community land at the development; however, you can smoke on your own property.

Sustainable Property Developments joined Aldinga Arts EcoVillage as co-developer last year to develop the final stage - 25 water- and energy efficient terrace houses. The village is not sold out: there still are opportunities to buy blocks of land.