North Atlantic Skyline - - Photographs from the west of Ireland (Galway, Mayo, Clare, Limerick, Roscommon and even Leitrim)

WaveBob

There's an experimental power generation machine sitting in the Galway Docks today. It generates electricity by harnessing energy from sea waves and will be tethered in the sea near Spiddal for the next few months. It's one of two prototypes under evaluation this year. Given the potential energy in the North Atlantic, here's hoping that the experiment is a success. I can't be the only one disappointed that they called their yellow sea 'creature' WaveBob instead of SpongeBob SquarePants.

It's not the first machine in the west to harness the power of the sea. On Doorus peninsula, there are still the remnants of a mill (at Tawnagh West) that was powered by both wind and the tide. The tidal current is quite strong there, and the wheel could be powered by both the incoming and outgoing tide.[I have some photos of it but they are rather poor. I'll have to go back there].I don't have exact dates for when it was in operation but it's at least 200 years old. It's also a protected site.