‘Sea-snake’ wave machine could provide power for 1,000 homes

The Times
May 6, 2009
Home Staff

A “sea-snake” wave machine could be generating energy off the coast of Britain within five years. Each device, up to 200m (650ft) long and made almost entirely of a rubber tube, could be capable of producing enough electricity to power 1,000 homes.
The plan is to have “shoals” of the snakes around the coast, where they would be harnessed to “swim” just below the surface, their developers Checkmate Group said.
A 9m version is in final tests in a 270m wave test tank run by QinetiQ in Gosport, Hampshire. The tank is Britain’s largest and simulates waves that the device would encounter in the sea. A seagoing prototype snake is likely within three years.
Unlike other wave machines, the snake “swims” head-on to the waves, like a ship in a storm, said Professor Rod Rainey, who came up with the idea.

He added that the design was “tremendously survivable”. “If the worst comes to the worst it’ll only be washed up on the beach, and you can patch it up and put it back out there,” he said.