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Thursday, 20/Aug/2009
Islay Wave Power on Video?
How do you show something on video that you can't really see? After all a large part of the action at Islay's wave power plant is moving air, which is usually largely invisible. Still, watching just the waves gives at least part of an idea about the station, like in this video:
I must admit I can't figure out what the view from 0:34 min onwards is? Is that a view into the water chamber? Anyway, that's on a fairly calm day. To see how the same place looks on a stormy day on Islay give this video a try (turn down the sound, it's rather noisy):
I think this gives a good idea of the power of the waves, but it also gives an initial idea of what I've heard is one of the biggest problems with these stations: Corrosion. Just look at all the salty spray going everywhere, the water everywhere. Not very helpful when running any machinery. Another problem is actually noise. It doesn't really come out, but the air going through the turbine makes a surprising amount of noise. I've heard people living near the station have had quite a few problems with the noise it makes on occasion.
Still, in principle I think it's a great idea. Hopefully machines like these will be able to supply much more power in the future.
PS: Here's a nice animation of how the Voith wave power station works (It's a bit of an advertising video, but still nice. It also mentions Islay).
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