Image Courtesy: EuropeWave
A massive Spanish-built buoy has been deployed off the coast of northern Spain in a bid to prove that ocean waves can become a practical source of clean electricity. The floating device, known as MARMOK-A-5, has entered testing in the Atlantic Ocean as part of a broader effort to bring wave energy closer to commercial reality.
Developed by Spanish engineering firm IDOM under the EuropeWave program, the 42-meter-long wave energy converter has been installed at the Biscay Marine Energy Platform off the coast of Bizkaia. The system is now undergoing offshore commissioning after being successfully deployed and connected to the grid, according to EuropeWave.
At first glance, MARMOK-A-5 resembles an oversized buoy. Hidden inside, however, is a system designed to convert the motion of ocean waves into electricity. As waves move around the structure, a column of water rises and falls within the device, compressing and expanding air inside a chamber. That airflow drives turbines that generate power before sending it ashore through an underwater cable.
The current version of the device is equipped with two 15-kilowatt turbines, giving it a nominal output of around 30 kilowatts. While that is far from enough to power a city, the project’s purpose is not large-scale generation. Instead, engineers are focused on proving that wave energy systems can operate reliably in harsh marine environments and eventually be scaled into commercially viable infrastructure.
Wave energy has long attracted interest because oceans provide a nearly constant source of motion, unlike solar and wind resources that fluctuate with weather and time of day. Yet the sector has struggled for decades with corrosion, maintenance costs, storm damage, and the challenge of keeping equipment operational in unforgiving conditions.
The latest version of MARMOK-A-5 includes several upgrades aimed at addressing those obstacles. Engineers have added controllable turbine blades, onboard batteries, intelligent control systems, and a redesigned power take-off mechanism intended to improve performance across varying sea conditions.
The deployment is part of the EuropeWave initiative, a research and development program backed by more than €22.5 million in European, national, and regional funding. The program aims to accelerate the development of wave energy technologies capable of surviving extreme ocean conditions while producing electricity at costs that can compete with other renewable sources.
The project also builds on earlier testing conducted between 2016 and 2019, when a previous version of MARMOK-A-5 became the first wave energy converter connected to Spain’s electricity grid and one of the first such systems globally to achieve that milestone.
For now, the buoy remains a demonstration project rather than a breakthrough power source. But the data collected over the coming months could help determine whether wave energy can finally overcome the technical and economic hurdles that have limited its adoption for decades.
