The design, construction and operation of the LIMPET wave energy converter (Islay, Scotland)[Land Installed Marine Powered Energy Transformer]

Queen's University of Belfast (QUB) developed the first shoreline Oscillating Water Column (OWC) wave energy device in the UK with a 75 kW prototype constructed on the island of Islay, Scotland in 1991. The successor to this prototype, LIMPET, has been constructed on Islay and is intended to address many of the issues that currently hinder the full-scale commercial deployment of shoreline OWC devices. The LIMPET device comprises a rectangular inclined OWC that ducts the generated airflow through two contra-rotating Well's turbines, each coupled to a 250kW induction generator giving the device a 500kW maximum power output. This paper serves to provide an overview of the LIMPET device from conception to the current status. (au)