The device costs less than conventional designs, the team said, has fewer moving parts, and is made of durable materials.

It is designed to be incorporated into existing ocean energy systems and can convert wave power into electricity.

Small-scale experiments in an ocean simulator have indicated a single full-sized device could generate the equivalent of 500kW of electricity – described as about enough to power 100 homes.

Engineers believe the new Dielectric Elastomer Generator (DEG) device could be installed within decades, providing fleets of low-cost, easy-to-maintain power-producing units.

It uses flexible rubber membranes and is designed to fit on top of a vertical tube which, when placed in the sea, partially fills with water that rises and falls with wave motion.

As waves pass the tube, the water inside pushes trapped air above to inflate and deflate the generator on top of the device. As the membrane inflates, a voltage is generated. This increases as the membrane deflates, and electricity is produced. In a commercial device, this electricity would be transported to shore via underwater cables.

A scaled-down version of the system was tested in the FloWave facility at the University of Edinburgh, a 25m-diameter circular tank that can reproduce any combination of ocean waves and currents.

The system could replace conventional wave power generators involving complex air turbines and expensive moving parts.

Professor David Ingram, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering, who took part in the study, said: “Wave energy is a potentially valuable resource around Scotland’s coastline, and developing systems that harness this could play a valuable role in producing clean energy for future generations.”

The team from Edinburgh has been working with the Universities of Trento, Bologna and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa in Italy on the project. 

In 2018 the UK Government announced that it would provide financial support for the offshore wind sector in the hope that it will lead to a doubling in capacity over the next decade. 

The device costs less than conventional designs, the team said, has fewer moving parts, and is made of durable materials.

It is designed to be incorporated into existing ocean energy systems and can convert wave power into electricity.

Small-scale experiments in an ocean simulator have indicated a single full-sized device could generate the equivalent of 500kW of electricity – described as about enough to power 100 homes.

Engineers believe the new Dielectric Elastomer Generator (DEG) device could be installed within decades, providing fleets of low-cost, easy-to-maintain power-producing units.

It uses flexible rubber membranes and is designed to fit on top of a vertical tube which, when placed in the sea, partially fills with water that rises and falls with wave motion.

As waves pass the tube, the water inside pushes trapped air above to inflate and deflate the generator on top of the device. As the membrane inflates, a voltage is generated. This increases as the membrane deflates, and electricity is produced. In a commercial device, this electricity would be transported to shore via underwater cables.

A scaled-down version of the system was tested in the FloWave facility at the University of Edinburgh, a 25m-diameter circular tank that can reproduce any combination of ocean waves and currents.

The system could replace conventional wave power generators involving complex air turbines and expensive moving parts.

Professor David Ingram, of the University of Edinburgh’s School of Engineering, who took part in the study, said: “Wave energy is a potentially valuable resource around Scotland’s coastline, and developing systems that harness this could play a valuable role in producing clean energy for future generations.”

The team from Edinburgh has been working with the Universities of Trento, Bologna and Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna Pisa in Italy on the project. 

In 2018 the UK Government announced that it would provide financial support for the offshore wind sector in the hope that it will lead to a doubling in capacity over the next decade.