The small town of Mutriku in the Basque region of Spain is the first in the world to open a commercial wave power plant. The Basque government energy agency Ente Vasco de la Energía (EVE) debuted its €2.3 million ($3.1 million) project in July. The project is funded by taxes. It is estimated that the wave power plant will produce about 300 kilowatts, enough to provide 10% of Mutriku’s energy needs. Voith and Siemens provided the 16 columns as part of a joint venture.Wave energy technology has been produced on an experimental scale for years, and several methods have been tried. There have been underwater turbines that are driven by water like wind turbines are driven by wind, and there have been systems where a rising and falling buoy drives a piston. The power plant at Mutriku employs another approach: 16 oscillating water columns.

Here’s how the technology works. The 16 hollow columns are installed on a breakwater in the city’s bay. Each column is open to the water below sea level. As the waves rise, the air inside each column (above sea level) is compressed and forced out of a small opening at the top. This pressurized stream of air spins a turbine, which in turn drives an alternator to produce electricity. As the waves recede, the pressure inside the column drops, drawing a stream of air through the same upper opening and providing another impetus for spinning the turbine. No water comes into contact with the turbines during the process.

Oscillating Wave Column

Wells Tubine For Harnessing Wave Power

The bay at Mutriku should provide plenty of wave energy. The local harbor has been beset by rough waters for years, and plans to update the breakwater system were well underway when the idea of integrating a wave power station arose. The oscillating water column technology was a good fit with the established breakwater blueprint.

When the largest economy in the European Union derives 20% of its energy from renewable sources, it is a milestone worthy of international attention. Germany’s renewable energy consumption jumped 2.5% within the last year, sending the total consumption of green power in that country to 20.8%. Since 2000, Germany’s use of renewable energy has increased 15 percentage points.

Driving this change is government action. After the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the German government reversed its policy of supporting nuclear power and declared it would work to phase out all of its nuclear energy by 2022. Along with the demotion of nuclear power, there has been a promotion of renewable power via a feed-in tariff mechanism. Germany’s feed-in tariff was established in 2000 under the Renewable Energy Sources Act. The Act encourages investment in renewable energy by providing companies with long-term contracts and defraying the higher implementation costs green technologies require.

The majority of German citizens support the increased taxes needed to finance feed-in tariffs. Germany plans to achieve 35% renewable electricity use by 2020.

Solar power has become the driving force in the growth of renewable energy in Germany. Solar’s 3.5% of total electricity production is 76% higher than it was last year, and solar now produces more renewable energy than hydropower. The bulk of German green energy is generated by wind and biomass sources.

There is some conflict over the growing infrastructure of German renewable electricity, which will require over 1,800 miles of new power lines by 2025 as well as new sites for windmills and solar panels. Despite their comfort with financing these projects, German citizens are not keen on seeing them built in their back yards.

Varese Ligure, a town in Northern Italy, runs on 100% renewable power. The town uses a mix of wind, solar and small-scale hydropower. The town has reaped benefits from the energy network through added jobs, and an additional 350,000 euros [US $514,000] in revenues that are handed over to the council each year. Varese has also seen a six-fold increase in tourists in the last ten years, many coming just to see its renewable energy network.

Varese became the first municipality in Europe to get 100% of its power from renewable energy sources six years ago. It now generates three times more electricity than the people living in Varese need and there are plans in the pipeline for even more renewables.

The town has also launched initiatives to make Varese 100% sustainable. A total of 108 organic farms now supply 98 percent of the town’s food; water is purified using environmentally friendly technology, and waste has been significantly reduced.

Four wind turbines located on a ridge 1100 meters above sea level — where the average annual wind speed is 7.2 meters per second — generate 8 million kWh of electricity a year that is fed into the local grid managed by Acam, a power company in La Spezia. Photovoltaic (PV) panels have been installed on the town hall and the local school. The town hall has 102 PV panels covering 95 square meters and generating 12,700 kWh a year, which supplies 98 percent of the total energy consumption of the building. Varese’s secondary school has 39 PV panels covering 36 square meters and producing 4,600 kWh a year, which supplies 62 percent of the energy used.

In addition to the that, the town’s swimming pool is heated by solar power and a program to promote the use of wood pellet stoves is in the works.

Via: Renewable Energy Access

If you own property that has access to a stream or river, and want to produce your own electricity, then Hydropower should be your first choice. The cost of equipment is lower, and the kilowatt per dollar return is much better than any other alternative energy source.

The most important element to have when producing hydropower is what is called “drop”. The greater amount of change in a stream’s elevation, the better it is for producing electricity. A small stream with a good drop is better than a larger stream with a small change in elevation, because the turbine needed to tap a small stream is smaller, easier to install and less expensive.

Hydropower often produces an excess of power, especially with direct AC systems. This excess can then be used to heat your water or warm your house, for example.

Turbines are available from Alternative Energy Store, Backwoods Solar or Real Goods.

A recent post at Alternative Energy Blog pointed out that villagers in Vietnam are using $20 “Pico Hydro” turbines (300W and 500W) to power their homes, because it is cheaper than buying power from the grid. Apparently these turbines are not available in the U.S. — the only web site selling them is in Nepal.

More details on setting up hydropower systems can be found in this NREL document (PDF) or this introduction from Real Goods.