The sea off Alghero is once again becoming a testing ground for renewable energy, with alternatives to the much-contested wind turbines being tested since 2023.
About 500 meters from Capo Galera, in the Capo Caccia-Isola Piana Marine Protected Area, the Wepa (Water Energy Point Absorber) prototype, developed as part of a collaboration between the Porto Conte Park and the Polytechnic University of Turin, has been re-installed.
The device, already tested in 2023 and now updated with new instruments, is designed to simultaneously exploit three energy sources : wave motion, solar power , and wind . The system was also conceived to power a seawater desalination process, with the goal of producing fresh water through the use of clean energy.
The initiative is part of the European Vague project, funded by the Interreg Italy-France Maritime program, of which Porto Conte Park is a partner.
The installation operations were conducted by the Polytechnic University of Turin, Seaform, and the NelBlu company. Initial tests confirmed the prototype's correct functioning.
Monitoring will continue in the coming months to evaluate its performance in various weather and sea conditions. "The sea around Alghero continues to be an attractive setting for research into technologies capable of transforming natural resources into sustainable development opportunities," emphasizes Giulio Plastina, director of the Porto Conte Park and Marine Protected Area. For Sergej Antonello Sirigu, a researcher at the Polytechnic University of Turin, marine testing will allow us to gather crucial data to develop increasingly reliable and efficient devices.