The Researchers from Madras Indian Institute of Technology have developed an ‘Ocean Wave Energy Converter’ that can generate electricity from Sea waves. The trials of this device were successfully completed during the second week of November 2022.

The Device was deployed at a location about 6 KM off the coast of Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, at a location with a depth of 20 meters. This device targets generating 1MW of power from Ocean Waves in the next three years.

The targeted stakeholders are the oil and gas, defense and security installations and communication sectors.

IIT Madras faculty Prof. Abdus Samad, who has been working for over a decade on wave energy, lead the mission. He established a state-of-the-art ‘Wave Energy and Fluids Engineering Laboratory’ (WEFEL) at IIT Madras. His team designed and tested a scaled-down model. The lab is also researching other applications for this technology such as producing power for smaller devices for the ocean like navigational buoys and data buoys, among others.  

Highlighting the impact of this project, Prof. Abdus Samad, Department of Ocean Engineering, IIT Madras, said, “India has a 7,500 km long coastline capable of producing 54 GW of power, satisfying a substantial amount of the country’s energy requirement. Seawater stores tidal, wave and Ocean thermal energy. Among them, the harnessing of 40GW wave energy is possible in India.”

Further, Prof. Abdus Samad said, “Even single devices in different locations along the Indian coastline can generate large quantities of clean power. ..Our vision is to make India sustainable by tapping the marine energy and net zero carbon emission to mitigate climate impact.”

The project received funding support through ‘Innovative Research Project’ of IIT Madras, TBI-KIET under DST Nidhi-Prayas Scheme and Australian Alumni Grant Scheme 2022 by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Government.

IIT Madras partnered with a start-upViryaParamita Energy (VPE) Pvt. Ltd., and Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology (MNNIT) Allahabad, for this test. The electrical storage system was designed by GKC Institute of Engineering and Technology and MCKV Institute of Engineering, West Bengal. Waterfront Engineering and Infrastructure Pvt Ltd assisted in deploying the system in the Ocean.