Ocenalinx, a UK based renewable energy company involved in developing ocean power harnessing technology, has announced the beginning of construction of the final demonstration scale ocean energy facility in Australia. The facility will be connected to the power grid, and is expected to start generating electricity in early 2010. Right now, the company is removing a previous demo facility, that has been installed and in operation since 2006.

Oceanlinx has developed a technology that relies on the highly predictable long-wave ocean swells to harness energy and convert it to electricity. This final demo project is the last before the company starts building commercial scale projects. The new plant will validate about 2.5 MW of power per unit, which is enough for about 4000 average Australian households.
So, how does Ocenalinx harness energy from ocean swells? The machine used to do that is tugboat-sized platform, which carries a system that uses compressed air flow created by the ocean swells beneath the platform, to power specially designed wind turbine that powers an electrical generator. Since the swells move back and forth, the turbine is also capable of generating power with air moving in both directions, while maintaining rotation direction.

The technology draws its roots from the oil industry, where oil rigs are built to float, rather than stay moored to the ocean floor. Oceanlinx' generator is basically a floating box, with an air flow opening on top, which houses a wind turbine. Generators are modular in design, and can be combined and configured to output a wide range of power capacities, depending on the size of the site, or demand from the developer. According to the company CEO, Ali Baghaei, these generators can be setup in arrays a few hundred meters long, capable of generating hundreds of megawatts of clean electricity, which puts this technology on the level of the biggest tidal power generating facility in France, the 240 MW La Rance power plant.
There are no submerged parts in Oceanlinx' generators, and the expected lifetime of each unit is about 20 years. The rugged design makes the generators capable of withstanding very harsh conditions on the open ocean. The first applications of the new technology may be made for the oil industry, to power desalination facilities for supplying desalinated water for deep-water oil rigs.
Ocean swells are a very predictable phenomenon, which gives another advantage to this technology. Unlike some other renewable energy sources such as wind, the energy of the ocean is steadier, and ensures long-term non-intermittend power supply.