Hi guys, I thought I better chime in with some informed opinion....

Hi guys, I thought I better chime in with some informed opinion.

Have been overseas enjoying some "paper profits" !

Firstly, assumptions are being made without carefully dissecting the information provided. I think most people are of the mindset that electrons are the only method of transmission and storage of energy, because that's what people are used to. As an engineer and a person who is familiar with the construction and operation of power plants, you would know many of the issues being raised are trivial.

In this case, Protean does not transmit on-shore via electrons but it is clearly stated that it generates compressed air. Anyone who has been to a workshop could tell you that compressed air is a very viable and safe method of energy transmission.

Compressed air is also a fairly viable method of energy storage. You may be aware of upcoming "Green" and Hybrid vehicles which utilize compressed air for propulsion and energy recovery.

The current issue with renewable energy as a replacement for fossil fuel burning "on-the-grid" is mainly in 24/7 efficiency of production, thus necessitating storage (ie Solar only reaches it's peak efficiency for a few hours a day). Compressed air transmission allows for storage via tank.

Do note that even fossil fuel burning plants have huge capacitors in their electron generation stage, often times mechanical to smooth out the load. A flywheel is a form of energy storage and capacitor and is much more viable than electron based storage at very large capacities.

Once you then become aware of the fact that electrons are not being transmitted on-shore, that also resolves other questions of how the device is able to generate energy viably in the 6 degrees of motion, and also maintenance.

The unit is tethered to the sea floor, and generates the compressed air and desalination through a mechanical pulley system and has no on-board generator. That keeps the cost of production of each unit very low, and also mechanically becomes much easier to maintain and replace. I would assume it is fairly viable to have overcapacity of units (say 20%) which are rotated out for maintenance.

That answers the question as to how to maintain the units.

Finally, with tank storage acting as a capacitor and battery, the electron generation stage is kept outside of the harsh environment of the ocean and can easily then use commercially available "off the shelf" generation motors which can be spun up via load intelligent demand.

As for the question on the units being tethered together or in close proximity of each other, a rudimentary knowledge of physics would tell you that the total availability of energy from tidal movement remains the same, any stabilization is actually the absorbtion (and in this case production) of energy, and that I think we are underestimating the amount of energy available in the ocean.

I hope my information clears some queries up.

My opinions only and DYOR although I believe I may be more informed than some others.