In a real breakthrough in the renewable energy sector, researchers at IIT Madras have created a device that can generate electricity from sea waves. The development might help India achieve its goal to deliver on its climate change targets by generating 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030.
Called the ‘Ocean Wave Energy Converter’ or Sindhuja-1, this device was deployed at a remote location 6 km off the coast of Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, and placed at a depth of 20 metres. The IIT-M team completed trials of this device in the second week of November, and now targets generating 1 MW of power from ocean waves in the next three years. The team is led by Professor Abdus Samad, the scientist behind the establishment of the Wave Energy and Fluids Engineering Laboratory at IIT Madras.
Professor Abdus Samad, a faculty of IIT Madras’ Department of Ocean Engineering, has been working for over a decade on wave energy. The group led by him created and put to the test a scaled-down model. The lab is also looking into other uses for this technology, such as providing power for smaller underwater gadgets like data buoys and navigational buoys.
