King Island’s award winning hybrid off-grid power system is capable of 100% renewable operation uses wind, solar, storage and innovative enabling technologies to provide 65% of the electricity that was previously generated from diesel.
It is now about to become the first power station in the world to simultaneously generate energy from three renewable resources: wave, wind, and solar.
The UniWave 200, a 200 kW wave energy device, has recently arrived at King Island. The project is aimed at demonstrating the commercial viability of the technology which could revolutionise power generating capacity for smaller communities around the world.
The device will be partially submerged as it sits on the seabed. It has an opening on one side to allow the movement of the waves in and out of the chamber. Water rises and falls inside the chamber, causing the pressure of the air trapped above to change between negative and positive pressure. The pressure fluctuations force the air to pass through the turbine at the top of the chamber, generating electricity.
You can find out more about the project here