World's First Wave Power Plant

On July 8th, 2011, the Basque seaport of Mutriku, located between Bilbao and San Sebastian witnessed a historical day in energy generation history. Utility Ente Vasco de la Energ a (EVE) officially inaugurated the Mutriku wave power plant - the first worldwide in commercial operation. Voith Hydro supplied the equipment for Mutriku's 16 power units that will provide an output of 300 kilowatts in total - electricity sufficient for around 250 homes. "The rising global demand for green energy proves to be a strong catalyst for the implementations of innovative forms of renewable energy. The Mutriku project shows: Our wave power technology is commercially viable and ready for wide deployment on the global markets," says Dr. Roland Muench, Chief Executive Officer of Voith Hydro Holding. "To further this development, adequate feed-in-tariffs for wave power, as they already exist for a number of renewables, can now set the right legal framework." Voith Hydro's wave power technology can be deployed in new and existing breakwaters, and in purpose-built structures. Building on its long-term proven reliability, continuous design improvement have allowed for developing the technology to its leading-edge performance. The worldwide potential of the ocean energies is at an estimated 1.8 terawatts and still remains largely untapped.

Melvin Wylie