Wello Penguin

The concept was a rotating-mass type WEC, with an asymmetric counterweight connected to a generator to harvest energy from the movement of the hull in passing waves.

[1] The device is a floating asymmetric hull containing a rotating mass which drives a generator, without the need for hydraulic systems or a gearbox, and uses similar components to wind turbines.

[12] The initial aim was to deploy three 1 MW Penguin WECs at the Wave Hub test site in Cornwall, England.

[13] The project was to include a smart subsea hub using dry-mate connectors to connect the three WECs onto a single export cable.

[14] The device was towed across the North Sea to Orkney and moored at Hatston Pier, Kirkwall, however the CEFOW project was cancelled in 2019.

[16] The second-generation device was tested at the Biscay Marine Energy Platform (BiMEP) in the Basque Country of northern Spain.

[17][18] The 44 m long, 0.6 MW device eventually started generating electricity to the Spanish grid in September 2021, having been installed in July.