Using wave power as a source of energy is a concept that has always intrigued me. If you can shake a faraday flashlight a few times and generate enough power to light a flashlight, then surely the power of the waves you see on my kids’ favorite show, the Deadliest Catch, can generate sufficient power to light and heat our homes.
I’ve seen a number of startups with innovative ways to generate power from waves, but the major problem has been that a startup needs to be vertically-integrated to take that innovation to market. A wave power project needs regulatory approval, environmental impact reports, a mechanism for transmission of the generated power to shore , deals to sell the generated power, expertise on deep sea installation, AND their innovative mechanism of power generation. For a startup with just the last item, all the prior items make it expensive to launch.
Enter the Wave Hub. This is a UK project where companies can lease space on a hub that has everything a startup needs to try out their wave generation buoys. A sort of Darpa Challenge for wave power. I love this idea. Can we get Darpa to do something similar?
