Pelamis appoints administrators, page-7

The demise of Pelamis at this stage of industry proceedings really is a sad state of affairs. They had a high public media profile particularly because of the dramatic seawave pics which in turn raised public expectations for a new wave technology; now dashed.

I was hoping that they would last another several years until the West Wave project for comparison of WEC models could have run its course. If too many WECs fall by the wayside at ‘early stage’ both the UK government and the EC might withdraw support considering the general poor economic conditions in Europe. Let’s hope the “new body to encourage innovation in the wave energy industry to be set up by the Scottish government” is not just political rhetoric (see MF’s link).

Progress with Pelamis has been very slow. When an earlier model was deployed off Portugal some years ago there were major issues with the articulating hinges. These were supposedly solved. Ownership of each of the present two P2 models have changed hands several times and updates on research and development have become rather sporadic. Ultimately it is the cost per MWh of energy generated that determines commercial viability. My guess is that the writing was on the wall on this basis.

Great new ideas aren’t always economic but people fall in love with them. We would never do that with CETO, would we?

Jukes