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Denmark's Wave Dragon Delivers Power to the Grid

01 Aug 2003

History was made recently off the coast of Denmark when scientists from Aalborg University switched on the turbine which made their Wave Dragon the first offshore wave energy converter in the world generating power to a local grid.
The Wave Dragon prototype is seen offshore in Nissum Bredding, Photo courtesy of Earth-Vision.
The Wave Dragon prototype is seen offshore in Nissum Bredding, Photo courtesy of Earth-Vision.

The event followed months of intensive construction, launch and towing to the test site where final assembly took place. The 237 tonne Wave Dragon's first power output matched that predicted by Aalborg University and Technical University Munich.

The specially developed Wave Dragon Kaplan turbine has been installed in a siphon arrangement and measurement and surveillance systems have been installed. The next phase will see the installation of six additional turbines and an optimisation of performance.

The 4.35m international project is thus on its way towards realising its aim of producing large-scale environmentally sustainable power production at predictable costs of ?0.04 per kWh by the period of 2010 to 2016 in a low wave climate of 36kW/m off Denmark's Atlantic coast.

MJ Information No: 18503

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The Wave Dragon prototype is seen offshore in Nissum Bredding, Photo courtesy of Earth-Vision.

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