[December 2005]  The South West of England Regional Development Agency is leading the development of the Wave Hub off the coast of North Cornwall.

Wave energy offers great potential for renewable power but developers face difficulties in getting the power ashore due to the complex consenting process and creation of new and very necessary technology.

The concept of the Wave Hub is to assist by providing an electrical connection point offshore. The project has now moved on to the detailed environmental studies and engineering development phase which is being carried out by consultants Halcrow.

The scheme will consist of three parts:

1. Four power connection units (transformers enclosed in protective casing) anchored to the seabed at approximately 50m depth and about 20 km from St Ives Head

2. A single 33kV-20MVA cable running from the Wave Hub to the shore; the cable will be buried through St Ives Bay into the beach close to Hayle and taken under the sand dunes to the substation site by means of directional drilling.

3. A substation, to be constructed at the former power station site in Hayle, will connect the cable to existing power lines.Developers of wave energy converters will be able to install groups of their early commercial machines at the Wave Hub and prove their performance under realistic conditions.

Operation is planned to start in 2007.  For more information visit the Wave Hub website.