ON/OFF - Offshore Center Danmark

Poseidon’s
Organ
By Chief Executive Officer Partner
Claus H. Sivager and Project Manager
Torben Holm, Birch & Krogboe A/S
Introduction
Poseidon’s Organ is an invention, an ambition
and a specific plan to develop and construct
sustainable energy power plants in scale,
output and economy surmounting all previous
attempts to transform the oceans infinite
resources into electricity. One single power
plant unit is able to supply 12,500 households
with electricity from its position in rough
waters. The approximately 230 metres wide
triangular power plant unit is capable of resisting
conditions 10 kilometres off Portuguese
and Irish coasts. Here wind conditions and
energy rich waves create perfect conditions
for a wave power plant, the first of its kind,
conceptualised and designed for industrial
energy production. Model tests and measurements
clearly indicate Poseidon’s Organ will
pull the wave energy out of the experimental
research laboratory and put it among future
sustainable energy sources. At present, a
demonstration plant placed off the Portuguese
coast is to verify the fine output and operation
stability calculations and model tests already
show, thus proving Poseidon’s Organ a very
serious investment case – both in terms of
future environment and in terms of economic
return for a professional investor.
Scientific and Technological
Aims of the Project
Effective Wave Energy Production
Poseidon’s Organ is based on two patents and
12 inventions in total. Prototypes in scale 1:25
and 1:50 have through the support of the Danish
Energy Board been tested and have shown
very promising results in off-shore tanks and
wave basins. The project is now ready for a
test and demonstration plant at large scale.
The idea is to build demonstration plants
to identify and surmount possible technical
barriers operating a plant at large scale and
simultaneously demonstrating potential advan-
10 Offshore Center Denmark
Newsletter ON/OFF 10 - May 2007
tages and cost efficiency in energy production
based on wave power.
The project aims to transfer experience and
technology from patents and model tests to
the development of a prototype plant. The
plant is to be located in the Atlantic Ocean off
the Portuguese coast. Portugal is chosen due
to favourable wave conditions, and because
Portugal is a leading European nation within
wave power technology. Furthermore Portugal
has competent partners with close relations to
the European energy market.
The output of the demonstration plant is based
on key figures, model calculations and mean
data deriving from tests carried out. The plant
must first and foremost confirm the following:
- the ability to utilize at least 35 percent of
the inherent energy in waves and transform
it into electricity
- the ability to produce a total output of
30,000 kW on the demonstration plant
including three windmills
- the ability to achieve an output on wave
power energy equivalent to 28GWh a year
when the demonstration plant is located in
the Atlantic Ocean off the Portuguese west
coast
- the ability to achieve an output from three
windmills reaching in total 22GWh a year
How does it work?
Figure 1 illustrates how waves always hit the
front of the plant. The explanation is to be
found in the patented anchoring system. The
front of the wave power plant is 230 metres
wide and consists of 10 floats. The float
absorbs the energy inherent in the waves. A
double functioning pump then transforms the
wave energy into water flow driving a turbine
or generator producing electricity. It is the
uniqueness of the float that ensures optimal
absorption of the energy inherent in the waves.
The design of the floats is a result of model
calculations and numerous tests.
Cost effectiveness/efficiency
It is a project goal to develop a cost efficient
technology improving competitiveness and
acceptance of wave energy in the market for
sustainable energy. The construction costs
of Poseidon’s Organ are estimated at 41.5
million EUR.
Figure 1