The Pelamis was a wave-energy converter tested off Portugal in 2008 using linked floating tubes to generate electricity.
Developed by the Scottish company Ocean Power Delivery, the Pelamis consisted of connected cylindrical sections joined by hinged joints. As waves moved the sections, hydraulic systems at the joints drove electrical generators. The machine was designed to face the direction of incoming waves and convert the ocean’s motion into grid electricity.
Three Pelamis machines were deployed at the Aguçadoura Wave Farm near Póvoa de Varzim, Portugal, in 2008. The project is widely described as the world’s first wave farm to generate electricity commercially, although the installation encountered technical and financial problems.
Pelamis is often confused with tidal-stream turbines. Tidal devices extract energy from predictable horizontal water currents, while Pelamis captured the up-and-down and bending motion of surface waves. The company later entered administration, but its engineering helped inform later wave-energy research.