DexaWave Energy Malta has successfully set up a 1:10 scale model of its wave energy converters off Żonqor Point in Marsascala, by means of which the company will further test the possibilities for electricity generation from wave power in the Mediterranean.
Should the results show that it would be feasible to set up a wave farm off Gozo’s north-western coast (where high-tech wave data collecting instruments have been installed), it would be the first such farm in the Mediterranean. It would generate about five megawatts of electricity that would be enough to supply about 1,600 households.
Journalists were taken on a short boat trip to see the scale model of the wave energy converter off Żonqor Point yesterday, and DexaWave Energy Denmark director Lars Elbaek explained that the project would be viable if the tests show that there are two to three-metre waves for at least 2,000 hours a year.
As Resources and Rural Affairs Minister George Pullicino said, Malta could serve as an important laboratory with respect to marine-related renewable energy systems; and considering that land space is so limited, it makes sense to look into the various possibilities offered by the country’s offshore territory.
Referring to the amount of electricity that would be generated by a wave farm off Gozo’s north-western coast, Mr Pullicino said that five megawatts may not seem much compared to, for instance, the 90-100 megawatts that the planned Sikka l-Bajda wind farm would generate.
“But with renewable energy, you need to think of terms of multiples of a small number. And such research projects could also create new possibilities with respect to green jobs. Take the wind farms for instance – a lot of the assembly of the equipment would be carried out in Malta.
“This is a research and development project that aims to test wave heights in the Mediterranean, which are naturally very different to wave heights in other areas.”
The model of the wave energy converters, which was set up off Żonqor Point, is a scaled down version of the 60-metre converters (20 to 24 of them) that the company plans to deploy off Gozo.
This is the final part of a plan of comprehensive tests by DexaWave Energy Malta, and the purpose of the seven-metre long model is to help the company establish the parameters of a full-scale converter.
Once the tests are completed, DexaWave Energy Malta and Euromed Eco Power Co. Ltd (the company which is working very closely with DexaWave Energy Malta on logistics) plan to start building the first full scale converter early next year.
The idea for the project came about in 2009, when Euromed Eco Power director Noel Gauci and DexaWave Denmark director Lars Elbaek met in Denmark, where they had spoken about the possibilities of carrying out tests and considering a project in Malta with a view to supplying other Mediterranean countries with DexaWave Energy converters.
The idea was supported by the Finance Ministry, the Resources Ministry, Enemalta and Malta Enterprise, and DexaWave Energy Malta teamed up with the University of Malta’s Institute of Sustainable Energy and the International Ocean Institute-Malta Operational Centre, and applied for funding from the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST).
MCST immediately saw the potential and granted €195,000 for tests in Gozo and Marsascala. The company itself has already contributed €90,000 to the project and plans to invest a total of €3 million by the first half of next year, to build and test the first full-size model.