After launch Wave Dragon tugged to Nissum Bredning for extensive testing activities to optimise the Wave Dragon technology. Wave Dragon will be connected and produce electricity to the grid over a longer period of time.

From 2003 to 2005 a development consortium will perform long term and real sea test on hydraulic behaviour, turbine strategy and power production to the grid. The 4.35 mill. € project has been secured through substantial grants from the Danish Energy Administration (1.7 mill. €), EU (1.5 mill. €) and from the Danish system operator Elkraft System's RTD fund (0.25 mill. €).

Wave Dragon is a slack moored device of the overtopping type, consisting of two wave reflectors focusing the waves towards the ramp, where water overtop into a reservoir. The pressure height in the reservoir is converted into power through a number of variable speed axial turbines.

In a project co-funded by the Danish Energy Agency and the EU, a model Kaplan turbine especially designed for the low and varying heads and flows has been developed and tested with very promising results. This and 6 new turbines will be installed on the prototype in the ongoing Nissum Bredning project.

The prototype is designed as a 1:1 (full-size) model relativly to the wave climate in Nissum Bredning. This corresponds to 1:4.5 for a North Sea Wave Dragon and a 1:5.2 scale for a Wave Dragon in a 36 kW/m wave climate.

Due to scale effects the rated power will be 20 kW resembling 4 MW when deployed in a relatively low-energy (24 kW/m) wave climate and 7 MW when deployed in a 36 kW/m climate. The prototype activities are expected to establish the necessary knowledge in order to deploy a full-scale offshore Wave Dragon in 2006.

Contact & Information:

Wave Dragon ApS
Blegdamsvej 4
DK-2200 Copenhagen N
Denmark
Phone: +45-35360219 or +45-35370211
Fax: +45-35374537