Floating concrete paves way for wave power

Yes that’s right – floating concrete. Quite how that’s gonna work out, we have no idea, but the Carbon Trust seems pretty confident it can be done.

So confident they’re giving a Bristol-based firm £150,000 grant to develop the prototype.

Embley Energy is to develop technology that uses floating concrete to harness the power of the waves.

The two year project aims to demonstrate that Embley’s wave-energy converter, called SPERBOY (pictured) can compete with both fossil fuels and other renewable energy sources in terms of cost.

SPERBOY has the potential to deliver low-cost renewable electricity, they say, owing to its extended lifespan of more than 40 years, the innovative use of advanced laminated concrete in its construction and its low maintenance requirements.

Michael Burrett of Embley Energy said:

“The use of concrete for the main vessel will considerably increase the working life of the wave-energy converter and our design should deliver energy at a cost to compete with traditional forms of energy production. The support we have received from the Carbon Trust not only moves our project forward but also brings the realisation of a large-scale commercial marine energy resource ever nearer.”