With climate playing its extremes in the Australia’s cities parched with drought and the desert outback drenched by floods, it has come up with eco power to battle its poor weather conditions.
It is just a few weeks to go; the homes south of Sydney will be supplied with the country’s first commercial wave-generated electricity, as well as fresh drinking water, the country’s obligation to the sea.
The A$6 million ($4.7 million) floating plant lies anchored just 100 metres (yards) off a popular surf beach near Wollongong. Just south of Sydney, Wollongong is a city of around 200,000 people. The 485-tonne plant is capable of powering 500 homes along the local grid.
The plant generates electricity when waves wash into a funnel facing the ocean. It drives air through a pipe and into a turbine, which is capable of pumping 500kw of clean power into the local grid each day.
The plant can withstand a 1-in-100 year storm. Not just that, it can also desalinate 2,000 liters of drinking water each day capable of catering almost as many homes as it powers.
