Scott Beatty

From Common Energy UVic

Scott Beatty
Position:	MSc candidate
Location:	Faculty of Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering
Organisation:	Institute for Integrated Energy Systems at UVic (IESVic)
Supervisor:	Brad Buckham and Peter Wild
Contact:	scottb(at)uvic.ca

Scott Beatty (third from left), standing with the Research team above the prototype in operation Sept. 2006. Supervisors: Dr. Peter Wild (second from left), Dr. Brad Buckham (second from right)

I am currently involved in developing an ocean wave energy converter in an Industry/Acedemic Collaboration between UVIC and Syncwave Energy Inc. An ocean wave energy converter absorbs energy travelling in the form of ocean swell and converts it to some useful product (electricity, desalinated water, hydrogen). Our immediate goal is develop our prototypes to a level of reliability, efficiency, and survivability such that an ocean deployed system can be tested off the coast of BC in the near future.

The prototype wave energy converter in a wave tank facility

We will be deploying a wave measurement buoy to analyze potential sites within 6 months.

Ocean wave energy converters will initially be most useful to remote coastal communities to offset the extremely high financial and environmental cost of running diesel-powered generators for electricity, however, utility scale ‘wave farms’ will be able to provide power for entire communities similar to offshore wind farms.

Keywords: Ocean wave energy, Renewables