By installing the EWP pilot project in Gibraltar,which was made possible thanks to an efficient collaboration of Eco Wave Power with the EU Regional Development fund and the Environmental Department of Gibraltar led by Prof. John Cortes, Minister for Education, Heritage, Environment, Energy and Climate Change and Dr. Liesl Torres, the Chief Scientist of Gibraltar, Eco Wave Power was able to demonstrate a breakthrough in the wave energy industry.
Most of the power plant of EWP is located on land (in the tunnel, in the case of Gibraltar) and operates just like a regular power station. Since the installation, EWP implemented upgrades to the connections and storm protection mechanisms and such updates were successfully implemented in the recent storm in Gibraltar in January, 2018, when wave height reached in excess of 6 meters (twice as high as the height of the jetty) and no damage was caused.
EWP has already filed for and registered 13 new patents which are significantly derived from the Gibraltar pilot experience.
The EWP wave energy pilot system has accrued 15,000 grid connection hours (and counting). By achieving such amount of grid connection hours, it actually bypassed the previous world record that was set in this regard of 14,000 grid connection hours. Also, by installing the Pilot, EWP demonstrated that wave energy can successfully connect to the grid, with no fluctuation effects and no damage to the grid.
Currently, Eco Wave power is reviewing the possibility of creating a blockchain-based knowledge sharing platform, where EWP and other wave energy developers will be able to share their theoretical and practical experience from their installations, in order to assist the commercialization of wave energy around the world.