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There are two wave power devices in the UK. Total capacity currently stands at 1.25 megawatts.
The first type of device is the LIMPET (Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer), a 500-kilowatt shoreline oscillating water column on the Scottish island of Islay.
The second, the 750-kilowatt Pelamis sea snake, is an example of a hinged contour device. It is the first deep-water grid-connected trial and is currently installed at the European Marine Energy Centre in Scotland, where it is undergoing testing.
Wind-generated waves on the ocean surface have a total estimated power of 90 million gigawatts worldwide. Due to the direction of the prevailing winds and the size of the Atlantic Ocean, the UK has wave power levels that are among the highest in the world. Wave energy has the potential to provide as much renewable energy as the wind industry, but the development of wave technology is currently at the same level as the wind industry was 10 years ago.
