Eni installs wave energy device hooked to grid of Italian island

Italian oil and gas company Eni SpA (BIT:ENI) on Tuesday said it has completed the installation of the first ISWEC (Inertial Sea Wave Energy Converter) device connected to the grid of an island.

Capable of reaching 260 kW of peak power generation from waves, the device is deployed some 800 metres (2,625) off the coast of the Italian island of Pantelleria.

The technology, part of Eni’s decarbonisation plans, was developed by the oil group in partnership with Politecnico di Torino and Wave for Energy srl, a spinoff of the university.

The wave energy converter will undergo a real-world operations campaign that will support the development of a second-generation device, which is currently under study.

The device is made up of a steel hull, 15 metres long and 8 metres wide, which houses the energy conversion system, consisting of two gyroscopic units. It is located at a water depth of 35 metres and uses a mooring system of three mooring lines and a swivel. It sends power to the island over an underwater cable.

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