IIT-M, NIOT developing new turbines to harness wave energy

Chennai: Researchers of two central government institutes are developing better turbines to harness energy from waves along the country's 7,500-km-long coastline, estuaries and gulfs to generate electricity. The collaboration between IIT-Madras and National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) stands significant in the context of ever-growing demand for power coupled with dwindling fossil fuel reserves.

Head of the research and IIT-M professor Abdus Samad said solar and wind energy, though important, was not the only direct unlimited source of power. "India's long coastline and many estuaries and gulfs provide ample opportunities to harness wave power to meet rising energy needs," Samad was quoted as saying in a statement.

He said the institute has been working since 1993 to make wave energy a reality. The research team comprises four professors from IIT-Madras, including Samad, and three scientists from NIOT. Their most recent study on 'turbine-chamber coupling' was published in the reputed peer-reviewed International Journal of Energy Research, the IIT-M statement said. The initiative is funded by the Ministry of Earth Sciences.