Wave energy conversion - Oceanlinx

Oceanlinx is an international renewable energy company with a unique, commercially efficient system for extracting energy from ocean waves and converting it to electricity, or utilising that energy to produce clean, fresh water from brine.

Oceanlinx’s core patented technology is an Oscillating Water Column (OWC) device, based on the established science of wave energy, but one which – when compared to other OWC technologies – offers major improvements in the design of the system, the turbine, and in construction technique.

The company’s key strengths are:

• The patented Denniss-Auld turbine used in the Oceanlinx device is significantly more efficient than the Wells turbine most commonly used in other OWC devices at converting wave energy into electricity (source: Oxford Oceanics)
• Simple and robust technology with one moving part, the turbine, which enhances reliability of the mechanical and electric plant and provides for easier access of crews for maintenance and repair
• The technology has been successfully constructed and tested with the first full scale Oceanlinx wave plant, installed at Port Kembla in NSW, Australia
• Expected to have the lowest production cost per unit of its wave power peer group (source: Electric Power Research Institute)
• Product diversity, with a unit capable of producing either clean energy or potable desalinated water, driven by the Denniss-Auld turbine
• A byproduct of desalination units is brine which can be used to generate hydrogen
• Strong historic financial support from a broad base of investors and grant bodies