The man behind the Neptune 3 wave-powered electricity generator is hoping to get permission soon for testing the next version of the technology.
Charles Haynes has a home on Keats Island and had the Neptune 3, built by his company Mermaid Power, anchored in the property’s foreshore lease last September.
Haynes originally planned a few months of testing, but said he got all the data he needed over about six weeks in September and October.
“The beautiful thing about having it off Keats was that our house is right there,” he said, “and I’ve got a 24/7 look in all different kinds of wave conditions.”
That turned out to be fortunate, because Haynes also discovered a potential issue with the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO) permission to have Neptune 3 in his foreshore lease. The permission was granted in 2010, but the rules have since changed and FLNRO ordered the Neptune 3 moved and asked Haynes to apply for authorization under the new regulations.
Haynes said the data they collected showed it would be possible to generate about 30 amps with a 110-volt service, about one-third of the electricity that BC Hydro would provide to a typical on-grid home.
“Thirty amps is a lot. It’s not very often that you use more than 30; in the morning, or in the night, or if you have some electric heaters on,” he said. But the testing off Keats also showed the need for some refinements to the Neptune technology to make it cost-effective to produce that power.
The company is currently working on those refinements, which will be incorporated in Neptune 4, but Haynes said he doesn’t plan to do any more testing off Keats.
Instead, Mermaid Power has applied for an Investigative Use Licence (IUL) to carry out tests in Georgia Strait between Point Grey and Richmond. The exact site hasn’t been chosen. Haynes explained that Neptune 4 will be on pilings instead of free-floating, so they need a location that has enough wave action and a sandy bottom.
“We can put a pile into the sand bank, and we can take the pile out afterwards so there’s nothing there. It’s a two-year licence, so we’re in and out and we didn’t leave any residue.”
Haynes said the company hopes to be in a position in a few years to say, “This device, with those waves, costing this much would be economical. That’s ultimately what has to happen – it has to be economical, it’s not just a matter of does it work?”
Haynes isn’t ruling out a return to the Sunshine Coast area for future tests. He said wave conditions at Halibut Bank, in Georgia Strait, are very promising for electricity generation.
