Reply #2: Not the critter I thought it was. [View All]

Wavebob looks like it uses direct mechanical links and the movement of a hydraulic fluid to generate power. Without massive over-engineering, any "rigid" system can be smashed by a sufficiently angry ocean.

Visualise this if you can: A low profile float supporting a long cable, Strung along the bottom portion of this cable is a series of magnets and if necessary a weight at the bottom to keep the cable taut. Surrounding the magnets is a set of coils arranged in a vertical tube around the magnets.

As the float on the surface bobs up and down with swell and the tides, (small chop is damped out by inertia in the system) the magnets move through the coils generating an electric current.

Because the two parts are not physically connected to each other, the potential for them to be damaged by extreme events is very much reduced. Worst case scenario is that a magnet string is lifted free and has to be retrieved after the event has abated and even this could be guarded against.