Iberdrola opens first wave power plant

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SANTONA, Spain, Oct. 13 (UPI) -- Spanish power utility Iberdrola Renovables announced it opened the first buoy of the pilot wave power plant.

The plant is being built in Santona by a joint venture called Iberdrola Energias Marinas de Cantabria. The ownership is shared by Iberdrola Renovables with 60 percent, Total with 10 percent, OPT with 10 percent, the Instituto para la Diversificacion y el Ahorro Energetico with 10 percent and the Sociedad para el Desarrollo de Cantabria with 10 percent.

Just for the first phase of the wave power plant, the cost has risen to more than $4 million.

The plant generates power from the movement of the waves. Then the energy will be sent to a marine substation where it can be transmitted to the power grid.