It looks like experiments are going to be carried out on Texel this year with a watermill to extract energy from waves in the sea. The so-called Slow Mill previously won a competition organised by Rijkswaterstaat.
In an extensive article, Trouw describes how the watermill beat Boyan Slat in 2012 during a competition run by the Dutch Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management on ideas for the sea. Slat is the one who is now world-famous for his clean-up system that rids the oceans of plastic.
The Slow Mill is an idea by inventor Erwin Croughs. It involves a large floating installation that converts wave power into green electricity. A good solution for a Wadden island like Texel, as they prefer to keep the coast there free of wind turbines. The Slow Mill float has an underwater pendulum of blades that drives a power generator and thus supplies energy. It is held in place by a large concrete block that is lowered to the bottom. On that block are screwed pieces of stone on which shells and anemones, among others, can nest. Together with his partner company E-Concrete, Croughs makes concrete with natural relief.
Revolution
The clean power generated and ogpeslagen with the Slow Mill can be used to power electric boats and drilling rigs, for example. Eventually, the aim is to power homes on Texel with wave power. To make that happen, the technology must work faultlessly, and the first major trial could generate enough power for 100 houses, according to the initiator. Trouw reports that university experts and research centres Marin and Nioz are participating in the project.
On Texel, they welcome the initiative. The island, like the other Wadden Islands, does not want to install windmills. Many solar panels are being installed on roofs and lawns, but that is not enough to generate enough power. Therefore, new initiatives, such as the Slow Mill, are more than welcome. There was also a digester building that makes sustainable gas from cut grass and power-generating kites.
Distrust
Earlier projects for wave energy in the oceans went wrong several times. But according to Croughs, that says nothing about his technology, he stresses in Trouw. "Those first systems, in raging oceans, were very heavy structures. And they were on an anchor with a wide chain. With a big wave, such a system gets a rock hard whipping. That won't happen with our system."
This year, the first step is for the technology to prove itself and actually generate energy, after which, from 2020, the scale-up can begin with power delivery via power cable to the mainland. The costs for that power cable will be at Slow Mill's own expense. In any case, the location where the cable will bring the first wave energy ashore is known: at Paal 12, on the beach. The first customer is nearby: beach pavilion 'Twelve'.
Source: Trouw/Slow Mill
Photo: Slow Mill
