Sea-faring rubber snakes help solve energy crisis

Giant rubber tubes that harness the energy of the waves may be a way of producing affordable energy according to initial results from a new project.

Computer generated image of the Anaconda in the sea

A new concept in wave energy - the ‘Anacondas’ are long flexible cylinders, filled with water and anchored just below the sea’s surface with one end facing oncoming waves. When waves approach an Anaconda they cause bulges of water to travel inside the tube while water running alongside the Anaconda squeezes the tube further, increasing the bulge. This surge of water then turns a turbine converting the energy to electricity which is transported on shore by a cable.

“The Anaconda could make a valuable contribution to environmental protection by encouraging the use of wave power,” says Professor John Chaplin, who is leading the EPSRC-funded project from Southampton. “A one-third scale model of the Anaconda could be built next year for sea testing and we could see the first full-size device deployed off the UK coast in about five years’ time.”

The inventors of the pioneering wave technology, Checkmate SeaEnergy, are now working with engineers at the University of Southampton, to scale up their experimental Anacondas to the monstrous size of 200 metres long and 7 meters in diameter. Using mathematical models and sea testing will allow the group to develop Anacondas that can respond to irregular and extreme waves.

Cheap to manufacture and upkeep, these huge rubber tubes are predicted to produce 1MW (roughly the electricity consumption of 2000 houses) of power output and cost 6p per kWh or less. Although this is twice the cost of coal generated electricity, it is very much in the league of other renewable energy options.

By Leila Sattary