 | ||
Located on the east side of Gibraltar, on a former World War II ammunition jetty, the Gibraltar Wave Farm is the first commercial, grid-connected wave energy power station in all of Europe. The project utilizes the devices of Eco Wave Power Ltd, an Israel-based wave energy company. The wave farm was initially launched to the total of 100 KW in April 2016 and is to be expanded to the whole of 5 MW within the next two years. The project is operating through a 25-year PPA (power purchase agreement) between Eco Wave Power, the Government of Gibraltar, and the Gibraltar Electricity Authority. Upon completion, it will generate 15% of the total electricity consumption of Gibraltar. The project is funded, in part, by the 2014-2020 European Regional Development Fund, in order to put the country in line with the EU's renewable energy goal: 20% energy generated from renewable power by 2020. The project is also funded by private investment groups.
Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony took place on May 26, 2016.
Chief Minister, Fabian Picardo, cut the ribbon, and stated to GBC press, "At last we are seeing the grid fed with renewable energy, something that was long overdue ...But it's even more exciting than that. This is the first time, in the whole of Europe, that a renewable wave energy system is linked into an electricity grid. The Gibraltarians are here pioneers in our partnership with Eco Wave Power..."
Minister of Health, The Environment, and Climate Change, Dr. John Cortes confirmed the technology, "This is clearly working. I think that the future is bright and the future, like the past all those 6 million years ago, is in the power of the sea all around us."
Gibraltar's Director of European Programmes, Charles Collinson, stated, "...And I hope that we are able to collaborate in future expansion of this project."