A new generation of renewable systems

Will CSP and Ocean Energy become the next booming technologies?

Mention renewable energy and the first examples most people think of are hydroelectric power, wind power, photovoltaic panels, and various types of biomass. These are indeed the renewable technologies that have been implemented on the largest scale in recent years. But with the ever increasing quest for renewable energy that can help mitigate climate change and reduce oil dependency, a new generation of renewable technologies could very well experience a market boom in the upcoming years.

These include Wave Power and Concentrated Solar Power (CSP). As is often the case, their technological concept is not new, but up to now the market conditions had not been right for large scale deployment. Those market conditions have now become favourable for Wave Power in Ireland and Portugal and for CSP in Spain. Other countries are expected to follow soon.

Ambitious targets for wave power

In Ireland, Eamon Ryan, the Minister for Communication, Energy, and Natural Resources has set the target of 500 MW of Wave Energy installed by 2020. Portugal has set a similar target of 550 MW by 2020. Both countries hope to ignite the wave power market by setting an attractive feed-in tariff — €0.22/kWh in Ireland and €0.23/kWh in Portugal.

Nevertheless, both of those targets seem very ambitious, given that the first large scale commercial wave power plant has yet to go into operation. The construction of the 2.25 MW wave power plant in Povoa de Varzim, Portugal, experienced significant delays, although the final part of the project is currently in the commissioning phase.

Hopefully, the government support being provided in both countries will allow the technology to overcome the bulk of its teething problems. If that happens, wave power could very well start conquering the world at fast pace.