Islay LIMPET (Land Installed Marine Power Energy Transmitter) was the world's first commercial wave power device and was connected to the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

's National Grid, in November 2000. The device was initially rated at 500 kW, but this was later downrated to 250 kW. The device was eventually decommissioned in 2011. It was constructed on the coast of the island of

Islay Islay ( ; , ) is the southernmost island of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Known as "The Queen of the Hebrides", it lies in Argyll and Bute just south west of Jura, Scotland, Jura and around north of the Northern Irish coast. The island's cap ...

on the west coast of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and harnessed the movement of waves through air pressure in a concrete chamber, driving an air turbine. The shoreline location was seen as a logical first step in the development and demonstration of wave energy technologies, as access for operation and maintenance was easier, possible in all but the worst weather.

History

A 75 kW prototype was constructed by

Queen's University Belfast The Queen's University of Belfast, commonly known as Queen's University Belfast (; abbreviated Queen's or QUB), is a public research university in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. The university received its charter in 1845 as part of ...

(QUB), starting in 1987 and completed by 1988. The mechanical and electrical plant for the prototype was commissioned in 1991, with alternative turbine configurations tested in 1995 and 1996. The commercial Islay LIMPET was developed and operated by Wavegen in cooperation with QUB. It was located adjacent to the previous prototype, on the southern tip of the west coast of Islay, near Claddach Farm on the Rhinns of Islay, just north of Portnahaven. Construction started in 1998 and was fully commissioned by 2001. Initially rated at 500 kW, the capacity was later downgraded to 250 kW. In the first winter after construction, the project was hit by 50-year extreme waves, and survived.

Technology

Islay LIMPET was a shoreline device using an Oscillating Water Column to drive air in and out of a pressure chamber through a Wells self-rectifying turbine. The chamber of the LIMPET was an inclined concrete tube, with three sections each 6m by 6m. The opening was below the water level, and external wave action causes the water level in the chamber to oscillate. This variation in water level alternately compresses and decompresses trapped air above, which causes air to flow backwards and forwards through a pair of contra-rotating turbines. The plant could be remotely operated from the Wavegen offices in Inverness, or from QUB in Belfast by

ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a set of communication standards for simultaneous digital transmission of voice, video, data, and other network services over the digitalised circuits of the public switched telephone network. ...

links.

Decommissioning

The plant has been decommissioned 2011, and as of 2018 all installations except the concrete construction making up the wave chamber have been removed.

Related installations

Based on this design, a 16-turbine plant was built in the Bay of Biscay in Spain, the Mutriku Breakwater Wave Plant, which was fully operational and handed over to the Basque Utility, Ente Vasco de la Energía (EVE) in 2011.

References

External links

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LIMPET at Queen's University Belfast
{{Sustainable development in Scotland Islay Buildings and structures in Argyll and Bute Wave farms in Scotland Wave energy converters Former power stations in Scotland