Portugal's Pelamis Wave Power Project Dead In the Water
by Matthew McDermott, New York, NY 
on 03.17.09
photo: Pelamis Wave Power
TreeHugger has touted how cool the Pelamis wave power device on a number of occasions, as well its implementation in the €9 million Aguçadoura project in Portugal. Well, that 2.5 MW adventure has come to an end. Citing technical and financial setbacks, what would have been the world's current largest commercial wave power project has been taken offline indefinitely:
Edinburgh-based Pelamis Wave Power holds a 23% stake in the project, with Babcock & Brown, Energias de Portugal and Efacec also participating.
The plan for Aguaçadoura had been to install 25 wave energy converters for a combined capacity for 21 MW. Back in November, the existing wave energy converters were pulled from the water due to leaks affecting their buoyancy. But once those problems were solved, the recession took its toll. Babcock & Brown began selling assets and other partners declined to contribute more funding.
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