Wave power plant planned for west coast

Published: 7 Nov 09 13:00 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/23136/20091107/

Dictionary tool Double click on a word to get a translation

Plans to built the country's first wave power plant in the sea, northwest of Smögen on Sweden’s west coast, have been proposed by Uppsala-based company Seabased Industry.

An application has been submitted to the Environmental Court (Miljödomstolen) to build 420 wave power units and create the country’s first wave power park.

Earlier this year the company set up a factory in Lysekil in western Sweden, to produce wave power units and states that the plant could create around 100 jobs in total.

The proposal has been a year in the making and Jan Sundberg, head of environmental permissions at Seabased Industry, is hopeful that the court will give the plans the green light.

“Interest in wave power is huge both in Sweden and abroad and the project will run parallel with further research and development,” he told the Bohusläning newspaper.

The local council have shown positive support to the idea of new energy sources for the area but is also keen to include local fishermen in discussions.

“It is important that fishermen and the company are in agreement over the location of the plant,” Mats Abrahamsson, Bohuslän's council chief said.

The cost of building the plant is estimated at 250 million crowns and Seabased Industry is hoping to secure investment from the Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten).

Energy produced from the plant could cover around 1,300 households in the local region.

TT/The Local (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6518)

What do you think? Leave your comment below.

Fark It! Digg This Facebook  Share everywhere
Send to a friend Printable version Twitter This

Your comments about this article:

13:31 November 7, 2009 by Nemesis
This is a brilliant idea.

This further diversifies Sweden's power production.

This also adds to Sweden's energy security, by futher reducing the need to rely on energy from outside Sweden and Europe.
13:42 November 7, 2009 by proteasome
Nice to have some more jobs show up but the basic idea might be doomed for failure. The worst environment for energy generating equipment. Incredible cost and time to replace and repair. All the equipment is one off and specialized. You can not easily scale up and keep costs down, you either have to have a million little generators that can take the stresses or you need massive expensive equipment that is not financial available. Otherwise great idea. Better idea is put a wind turbine on top of the rusty broken wave power plant.
15:17 November 7, 2009 by RadioBob
I do not think that there is nearly enough change in the tide at this latitude.
16:12 November 7, 2009 by warriorwithin
The logistics dont seem right. 250 million kr plant to power a thousand homes!!!!

i like proteasome's idea of puttting a wind turbine on top of the wave plant, may be it becomes a little more cost effective ,but still seems expensive
17:23 November 7, 2009 by Nemesis
I see more negative comments as usual by english speaking commentators.

The Swedish are very good engineers.

They are good scientists.

They are very good at taking an idea, designing it, improving it and then putting it into practise.

Swedish engineers, designers and scientists are very effective at working in teams.

Swedish nautical engineering is amongst the best in the world.

For some basic information on wave power I suggest you start here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wave_power

For some basic reading material I suggest reading these books on the subject.

Ocean Wave Energy: Current Status and Future Prespectives ISBN-10: 3540748946 ISBN-13: 978-3540748946

Ocean Wave Energy Conversion ISBN-10: 0486462455 ISBN-13: 978-0486462455

@ proteasome

Wrong.

You need to talk to an engineer who specialises in the area, before making a comment.

@ RadioBob

It is for wave power, not tidal power.

Reading the entire article, not just the headline is recommended before commenting.

@ warriorwithin

It is the first plant. They are always the most expensive. TFirst facilities are were all the problems are worked out. 25 million Euro for a first opeational plant, is actually a low price.
19:30 November 7, 2009 by karex
Great idea!

There will always be pessimists. The main objective is always the pessimism, never the idea, so it doesn't matter what the idea is - the reply will always be "It will never work".

Mankind is fortunate that it appears the great majority are not pessimists, otherwise we would still be in the stone age.

BTW, we do have the technology to build things that are suited to operate in all sorts of environments.
21:42 November 7, 2009 by entry
Seabased's Wave Energy Converter design -http://tinyurl.com/y9w8gwz

Seabased's Lysekil Pilot Wave Power Project -http://tinyurl.com/yhc6yey

Where Green solutions are cost competitive and make sense I can see no objections. Sadly sense and economics are not common topics in Green Solutions.

This solution looks interesting and has a certain appeal to me. I would like to know more of the projects merits.
23:55 November 7, 2009 by karex
Most green solutions are extremely new technologies, meaning, expensive. The more they are applied, the more cost effective they become.

This is not just true of green solutions, it applies to everything. How much did the plasma TV cost when it first came out and how much does it cost now?

Therefore, in order for the average person to be able to afford it, it is good that for certain things governments are willing to buy first. This means the costs will come down even faster than the run-of-the-mill consumer goods.
00:46 November 8, 2009 by entry
No EU/UN panel or government legislation forced consumers to purchase the more expensive and proven technology of plasma TVs. There is quite a difference.
08:56 November 8, 2009 by Makaveli
The Local, you guys are doing a great job, but i would expect at least correct spellings in your articles. Seems to me like some of these news articles are hastily edited and published with some very reckless spelling and grammar errors.
10:44 November 8, 2009 by Nemesis
@ Entry,

Wrong.

The United Nations does not make law.

The large screen HD panel was actually developed with funding from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). That was ordered by Ronald Reagan after he saw a Japanese technology demonstration.

So according to your logic, the large screen HD panel is a government conspiracy. You really need to think before making a comment.

Regarding wave power.

Wave power is only now coming out of the research phase and into the engineering phase. That phase in its development will require government money. The same applies to every start up program, including those in the United States of American, unless you are suggesting that only the USA be allowed to seed fund start up technology programs.

This wave power program is a technology demonstrator. In this program a lot of problems associated with wave power will be researched, defined, solved and the technology improved.

It is not a conspiracy, unless of course you think it is a conspiracy that Sweden is reducing its reliance on outside sources of energy, such as an ally of the USA, such as Saudi Arabia.

Diversification of energy supplies, increases energy security.

It will also help Sweden possibly gain a lead in this new area of technology.

Sweden is a world class technology leader. Hopefully Sweden can become a technological leader in the area of wave power.
13:05 November 8, 2009 by Streja
The waters in these areas are very dangerous some times and there are a lot of waves and power that can be used. I am from this part of Sweden so I know it' s a good idea.
20:15 November 8, 2009 by entry
"by Nemesis

The United Nations does not make law."

The UN has not yet been granted sovereignty over member states at this time. Instead, the UN has been tirelessly working to secure treaties and binding agreements which would require(force) member states to reduce C02. C02, which in computer models is a forcing in atmospheric warming, but as stated in IPCC AR4 section 8.6 has yet to be demonstrated or it's effects tested in the real world. So the UN does not directly make laws however it's policies and activities have had an effect on Sweden's policies and legislation.

"by Nemesis

The large screen HD panel was actually developed with funding from Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)…ordered by Ronald Reagan …large screen HD panel is a government conspiracy."

Putting aside your conspiracy theories and getting back to the issue, Sweden and other industrial countries are mandating the use of fledgling non-competitive technologies at huge costs to the consumer. This is a completely different dynamic than the market driven advancements in consumer electronics. Sweden's electricity production since 1990, has been almost independent of coal & oil(NEI Graph-http://tinyurl.com/yacwgmn ). Sweden may or may not additionally benefit from the direct consumption of wave generated electricity. The technology may in the future mature and demonstrate itself to be a competitive energy solution, which would make it a great export product.

It seems unfair to me to burden local consumers with increased electricity costs due to this current wave project.

"by Nemesis

Wave power is only now coming out of the research phase and into the engineering phase. That phase in its development will require government money… the United States of American, unless you are suggesting that only the USA be allowed to seed fund start up technology programs."

Nemesis, this is TheLocal.se, Sweden's News in English, can you temper down your fixation with the United States? Please try to focus yourself on Sweden.

Although, I am aware that this particular wave project by Seaside Industries has government funding aspects that really hasn't concerned me. I am more interested in the technology.

"by Nemesis

This wave power program is a technology demonstrator. In this program a lot of problems associated with wave power will be researched, defined, solved and the technology improved."

As I stated in my first reply, I am very interested in the current Seaside wave project. I am also interested in the various tidal projects underway elsewhere and am endeavoring to learn more.

"by Nemesis

It will also help Sweden possibly gain a lead in this new area of technology.

Sweden is a world class technology leader. Hopefully Sweden can become a technological leader in the area of wave power."

Should wave power prove to be a workable and competitive solution I would want Sweden to be a leading exporter of this technology.
22:18 November 8, 2009 by Nemesis
@ entry

Interesting how you edited my comments, by selective deletion, to give them a different meaning.
22:37 November 8, 2009 by entry
@ nemesis

Conspiracies imagined or fabricated by you and injected into the dialog are yours to own regardless of whether you hold them yourself or falsely suggest they are held by myself. I do understand you were being flippant when you suggested your conspiracy theory.
00:10 November 9, 2009 by JoeSwede
Sounds like a wonderful idea.
22:51 November 9, 2009 by Nemesis
@ entry.

I have re-read your inital comments.

I may have jumped the gun with you, for that I apologise.

Maybe we can get back to positive dialogue.

I also support Sweden in this. I have started to defend Sweden against unjust attacks a lot recently and may have got carried away.

Regarding market distortion.

To bring this online will require market distortion initially. It is basically a technology demonstrator, in whish they intend to iron out the problems before casting it onto the open market.

The idea is to protect it in infancy, let it mature and then release it into the wilds of the markets.

I can give you good ISBN numbers for further reading on the technology if you wish.
08:19 November 10, 2009 by entry
@ Nemisis

We seem to be on the same page with regards to this topic. Thanks for the ISBNs. I had already looked up the two wave power books that you have recommended in one of your earlier replies. Amazon.co.uk wants 843.61Kr before shipping for the first book but less then 200Kr for the second book. I have checked online with my local library but no joy there. I will check with the librarian when I get the chance and see if they can pull them from Gothenburg for me.

If you have other recommendations for reading let me know. Wave power shows potential.

Nemisis, what are you thoughts on what happened in Portugal and how does that reflect on the Scotland wave power project?
13:58 November 13, 2009 by entry
@ Nemesis

Made it to the library today. They told me that "Ocean Wave Energy: Current Status and Future Prespectives" was carried by three libraries in Sweden and that I should have a copy in a week or two. I didn't fair as well with McCormick's Ocean Wave Energy Conversion. It seems that they couldn't find the ISBN for the current book but did have a release from 1981. I told them to forget that one, and I will come back again after checking the ISBN at home.

In the mean time I have plenty to read. Vattenfall is doing quite a bit with wave power and had quite a few PDFs available. Over the weekend I plan on looking at what happened to the wave project in Portugal and take a look at the Scotland wave power project. Not sure if you had noticed my previous post and missed my query regarding your familiarity with the situation.
ADD YOUR COMMENT   (YOU MUST LOG IN OR REGISTER TO MAKE A COMMENT)
Today's headlines

Teacher charged with sex crimes against pupils

A male high school teacher in Skövde, western Sweden, has been arrested and charged with a string of sexual offences including child rape. READ »

Liberals call for lower taxes at party congress

Liberals call for lower taxes at party congress

Liberal party leader Jan Björklund has rallied members during a speech at the party conference in Växjö calling for lower taxes, developments in nuclear power production and for Sweden to adopt the euro as its currency. READ (8 COMMENTS) »

Undertakers face cost of drunken coffin spillage

Two sisters are claiming damages from a firm of funeral directors after their father's coffin was plunged ungracefully into a grave by undertakers unsteady on their feet. READ »

North Korean diplomats' smuggling scheme up in smoke

North Korean diplomats' smuggling scheme up in smoke

Two North Korean diplomats are being held on suspicion of trying to smuggle 230,000 cigarettes from Russia into Sweden. READ (9 COMMENTS) »

Vellinge changes course to welcome refugee kids

Local politicians who previously voiced their disapproval at a move to house asylum seeker children in Vellinge look set to sign an agreement to invite more children to reside in the municipality in the future. READ (15 COMMENTS) »

Horace Engdahl and Peter Englund

Early English learning comes under academic attack

A Liberal Party proposal to make English language learning obligatory in schools from the first grade has been slammed by members of the Swedish Academy who view it as an "unnecessary reinforcement of the status of English.” READ (47 COMMENTS) »

Sweden reaches deal over top EU positions

Sweden reaches deal over top EU positions

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt has announced that Belgian Prime Minister Herman van Rompuy will be the first permanent President of the European Council following negotiations in Brussels on Thursday evening. READ (20 COMMENTS) »

Heavily pregnant woman raped in home

A heavily pregnant young woman was raped in her home on the outskirts of Stockholm late on Thursday afternoon. READ »

More Science & Technology
Find a new job in Sweden now
SPONSORSHIP SALES EXECUTIVE
Stockholm
marcus evans (Scandinavia) ltd.
SMG - Corporate Sports Sales Executives
Stockholm
marcus evans (Scandinavia) ltd.
Account Manager - Industrial Sales
Stockholm
Michael Page International
We are looking for an Industry Offering Concept Owner
Stockholm (Kista) or Gothenburg
Tieto
Quote Engineer - District Heating Systems
Ronneby
Alfa Laval AB
Interest rate trader
Göteborg
Michael Page International

ALL JOBS »



Blog Update: Boston Blatte

19 November 21:58

Happy name day to me. No, not Blatte Day (yet) »

"Hey all you Elizabeths out there. Today (November 19 if you’re reading another day) is our name day. Happy Elizabeth Day. (Or Elisabeth or Elisabet as you are more likely to be if you are Swedish) So what’s a name day (if you haven’t already clicked on the Wiki link), it’s “a tradition in many countries..." READ »

Highlights
Photo: Malmöhus, Malmö's ancient fortress
SPONSORED ARTICLE
Swedish Rail Destinations with SJ: Malmö - Sweden's historic gateway to Europe.
Latest news from The Local in Germany
Blog
  • Sweden’s first marine national park opens
    In Sweden's west coast archipelago you find the tiny Koster islands. As of September 2009, these two tourist magnets and the sea around them make up Sweden’s first marine national park, 100 years...
  • Feasting on wild foods in Sweden
    The Swedish forests are rich with ingredients that foodies dream about, from delicious wild strawberries to highly sought chanterelles and porcini mushrooms. And it’s all free!
  • Sweden — the road trip
    Sweden.se writer Christine Demsteader spent her summer holiday exploring the length and breadth of Sweden. On the road she met many tourists who shared their experiences of the country.
  • Funny business — stand-up comedy in Sweden
    Updated August 31, 2009 Stockholm has just hosted its first international comedy festival, only days after the most important stand-up event of the year, Swedish Stand-up Awards 2009 took place....
Essentials

Jobs - in Sweden, in English
Get your career on track with our job listings from Sweden's top employers.

Property - renting or buying in Sweden
Navigating the minefield of renting or buying an apartment or house in Sweden.

Weather
"There is no bad weather, just bad clothes," say the Swedes. Here's the forecast for everyone else.

Introducing...
Every week The Local serves up a spicy helping of Swedish celebrity for your delectation.

Stockholm Syndrome
Tales of crazy Swedish classes, hamfisted attempts to understand - and explain - real Swedes, and varied experiences of fellow foreigners gathered for your amusement.

Search News


Register

Register now for:
> Free use of noticeboard
> Special discounts
> Weekly news roundup
> Unlimited use of discuss

REGISTER FOR FREE »

Jobs in Sweden, in English

69 jobs in Sweden, in English
21 new jobs this week
0 new jobs today

ALL JOBS »

Jobs
Visiting Stockholm?
Then you'll find The Local's new Stockholm Section useful. Find pics, guides, news and lots of useful information about Stockholm.
www.thelocal.se/stockholm
The Local's new Marketplace
Find products and services that are specifically focused on English speakers living in Sweden!
FULL DETAILS
City Backpackers Hostel
The base camp for the Stockholm explorer - voted one of the top 10 hostels worldwide by Hostelworld guest
www.citybackpackers.org
Welcome to Adlon Hotel in Stockholm
A perfect location both for business and pleasure. Centrally located, with atmosphere.
www.adlon.se
Winter archipelago tours
Visit Stockholm's beautiful archipelago. Great boat tours for all preferences.
MORE INFORMATION
Food and drink gift baskets
We offer a wide range of exquisite and unique hampers, elegantly decorated for all occasions. Our service is first class and allows you to send personalised baskets to your loved ones across Europe.
FIND OUT MORE
Counseling in English Individuals & Couples - Stockholm
Beth Rogerson PhD - Clinical, Marriage & Family Therapist
Click or call 08-5580 1266 now
Looking for a job? In English - in Sweden?
Visit our job section, in cooperation with Stepstone.
VIEW JOBS
Västervik - Sweden's most beautiful archipelago
Have a wonderful vacation among our 5000 islands
Find out about visiting Västervik
Folk High Schools in Sweden
The Swedish Folk High Schools have courses that give you the possibility to bring out all your colors!
www.folkhogskola.nu