Como citar APA:

Plaza, F., Ordoñez, N. (2023) Desarrollo de la tecnología undimotriz

como mecanismo de eficiencia energética en Ecuador: Estudio de caso Esmeraldas.

Repique, 5(2), 170-193

*

In recent years, technologies based on the use of renewable

alternative energies have been incorporated into different activities

in productive sectors, becoming a viable alternative to reduce

energy consumption and contribute to the environmental impact,

generating clean and non-polluting energies; one of them being

Esmeraldas, Ecuador. For this purpose, a study based on applied

research was established because it is based on solving a specific

problem or specific approach, focusing on the search and

consolidation of knowledge for its application and, therefore, for

the enrichment of cultural and scientific development. Among the

conclusions identified during the analysis of the energy potential of

waves, it was found that there are favorable results in the canton of

Esmeraldas as a possible means of generating alternative energy

* Universidad Técnica “Luis Vargas Torres” De Esmeraldas, fplaza@ulvt.edu.ec,

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Renewable energy, wave energy, technology, energy

efficiency.

aprovecha el movimiento de las olas para recibir y retener la

energía contenida en ellas, transformándola mediante procesos de

inducción electromagnética en energía eléctrica. Por esta razón, se

propuso en esta investigación, desarrollar una propuesta para el

desarrollo de la tecnología undimotriz como mecanismo de

eficiencia energética en la zona costera del cantón Esmeraldas,

Ecuador. Para ello, se estableció un estudio basado en

Investigación Aplicada debido que esta se fundamenta en resolver

un determinado problema o planteamiento específico,

enfocándose en la búsqueda y consolidación del conocimiento

resultados favorables como posible medio de generación de

parámetros ambientales necesarios de captación de energía

proveniente de las características del oleaje como el promedio de

altura del oleaje anual, el período constante de la onda, la densidad

del agua del mar y la velocidad promedio, siendo una alternativa

sustentable para el suministro de energía eléctrica en la zona

costera del cantón Esmeraldas, Ecuador.

Energía renovable, undimotriz, tecnología, eficiencia

energética

01-01-2023

noroeste del territorio nacional, nombrada por sus visitantes como

la provincia verde del Ecuador por su vegetación exuberante.

Posee aproximadamente el 70% un territorio con grandes

extensiones de planicies donde se observan pequeñas colinas que

alcanzan hasta los 300msnm. Sin embargo, su territorio se

encuentra bordeado por laderas y colinas, se observa al oeste una

cordillera montañosa de poca altura llamada Montañas de

Cojimíes, donde además se tienen las montañas de Muisne y

Atacames.

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and social change, based on the current legal framework, taking

the Constitution as a basis. In this legal context that harmonizes a

coexistence of preservation and respect for human beings and their

ecosystem, this allows the incorporation of systems that propose

energy efficiency and the use of alternative energies as ways for

environmental conservation and energy savings based on

renewable sources.

Due to the particular conditions of the province of Esmeraldas,

which is located in front of the Pacific coast and opting for the

proposal to implement the use of wave energy as a support

only energy server the thermoelectric plant of the Public Company

sources could present a viable proposal for future generations and

investments in the region.

Given the current energy situation, research, development and

innovation in alternative energies becomes more important and

valuable, as it helps to generate and adapt the scientific and

technological knowledge necessary to take advantage of the

energy potential of natural resources as alternative sources of

supply, thus contributing to social welfare (Niño and De Miguel,

2018).

In addition to the above, Latin America contains extensive and

Uruguay in terms of renewable energy, increasing considerably for

some years the non-polluting energy potential, increasing by 2019

in the region 12 gigawatts (GW) of total energy capacity from

alternative sources such as photovoltaic technology, which,

according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA),

projects that by 2050 more than 280 gigawatts (GW) can be

generated through solar panels.

This, if there is a large endowment of resources and solid support

policies. Likewise, within the energy mix adapted to the

geographic diversification of the region, geothermal, wind and

(Organización Latinoamericana de Energía [OLADE], 2020).

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resolution in which it commits to the implementation of the SDGs

and places them as a mandatory reference for its work. At the local

level, several decentralized autonomous governments have

articulated their planning for the fulfillment of the global agenda.

The private sector, civil society and academia have also joined this

national commitment, under the premise of walking together

towards common goals to ensure equal opportunities and a decent

life for all people (United Nations in Ecuador, 2022).

generation of alternative mechanisms or technologies for the non-

different effect on the environment, for example, the consumption

of natural resources, the destruction of the ecosystem for the

exploitation of deposits implies soil erosion, loss of vegetation and

biodiversity, and water and soil pollution (Figueredo and Fidel,

2022).

In addition, the burning of fossil fuels generates greenhouse gas

emissions (CO2, CH₄, N₂O), sulfur oxides, nitrogen and particulates

that, together with discharges of different compositions, negatively

alter the environment. To this should be added the damage caused

by the use of water dedicated to the cooling of the plants, which is

This is why there is a need to produce electrical energy focused on

mitigate the pollution of the atmosphere, and one of them is wave

energy, since it does not require large facilities, allowing to obtain

electrical energy from the movement of waves and immersed

mechanical energy, In order to complete this process, research

must be conducted on the characteristics of the waves in the

coastal zone of Ecuador supported with programmed monitoring

and located in key areas, preferably between 50 - 100 meters deep

and removed two kilometers from the Ecuadorian coast.

To which, Calero and Viteri (2018) refers that currently the studies

developed on the usable energy potential of the sea are insufficient

studying the feasibility of producing electricity from sea waves, in

order to contribute to the diversification of the generation mix and

discourage the use of fossil fuels for this purpose in the country.

Evaluating the possible supply of wave-transformed electricity with

wave technology as an alternative for the coastal area of

Esmeraldas, Ecuador, is a viable solution to preserve the local

ecosystem, mitigating pollution and emission of carbon dioxide

(CO2) and the greenhouse effect caused by the generation of

electricity from fossil fuels. However, the energy transition is

projected in the medium term due to the traditional reliable energy

technologically limit new energy horizons.

July - December

impact for the consumption of electricity in the different economic

sectors that make life in this area.

Wave energy is clean, because in its transformation process it does

not generate combustion, emissions or explosions, nor does it

generate waste or expulsion of waste into the sea. It also has a

great potential, because it does without existing resources in the

canton with the necessary environmental parameters to store more

energy such as the density of sea water and wind speed that

wave of one meter in height can produce between 20 to 40 KW.

atmosphere offering the solution to the demands of society, on the

different pollutants, present and future generations will benefit, to

be a source of a better quality of life Vergara and Ruiz (2020)

elaborate a research whose general objective was to design the

Wavestar Model to improve the supply of electricity in the beach

Costanera- Huanchaco, Trujillo-Peru, supported by the descriptive

methodology with a transversal-applicational approach and thus

apply a survey to the coastal population, allowing to collect

information on the perception about the design, analyze the wave

behavior of the sea of Huanchaco and its parameters such as wave

are adequate because the wave height of Huanchaco oscillates

wave energy can generate electricity and the project is viable.

Romero and Guevara in the year (2020) carried out an article whose

objective was to propose a technological alternative for the use of

wave energy in the state of Zulia. The research was framed in the

modality of feasible project, descriptive type with a documentary

design. The population consisted of studies and scientific research

and technical reports related to wave energy. The data obtained

were evaluated using statistical analysis for the study of the Zulian

electricity market, analysis matrices to characterize the devices

under study, comparison matrices to determine their technological

commercial phase, however, they present high investment costs.

The Energy Buoy device was selected because it has a capacity

suitable for the Venezuelan waves, as well as the greatest market

dominance, with the lowest environmental impact among the

technologies evaluated, which allowed selecting it as the ideal

alternative for the use of wave energy in the state of Zulia.

According to Figueredo and Fidel (2022) in the research entitled

Evaluation of wave energy as a sustainable alternative for supplying

an artificial lift system in a semi-submersible platform. Intending to

evaluate the supply of electric energy in an electro-submersible

a sustainable alternative through the selection of an offshore well

July - December

innovations can be transformed into wave energy (Garcia, 2019).

Spreading over thousands of kilometers along the surface of the sea

for great lengths with minimal energy losses, culminating at the

continental edge, so that the energy accumulated in any part of the

ocean is concentrated on the coasts driven by the wind, dynamics

that allows through the movement of the waves to generate in

support of physical or chemical transformations, to be able to

generate wave energy, Chozas (2012).

intensity, duration of the wind and the extension of the surface over

which can be of capillary or gravity type, being the capillary waves

the most effective quantitative for the accumulation of energy, by

obtaining energy from the thrust of the wind.

To measure the environmental phenomenon of the wind force and

the state of the sea, the work scale of other authors is used, which

consists of a graduation that for the wind will be the speed and for

the sea the height of the waves, and thus from the wind force it is

possible to estimate its correspondence in the sea.

Allowing to identify the wind speed of knowing the height of the

waves or vice versa and the higher the wind speed, the higher will

has a warm climate and a maritime extension of 1,338 km2 so its

average of 14KW/m of power, while in deep water maintains a

constant average swell of 1500 to 2000 m in height with a period of

12 to 15 seconds not exceeding 1 m/s (Instituto Oceanográfico de

la Armada de Ecuador, [INOCAR], 2022). In this sense, taking into

consideration the geographic location and the potential sources of

exploitation, it is suggested to locate the wave energy park in the

coastal area of the Esmeraldas canton.

Finally, there is a third wave-driven system adapted to the

parameters of the Ecuadorian coasts called PELAMIS or also known

as robotic sea serpent is an articulated, semi-submerged structure,

The power of all joints is fed by a cable on the seabed. Several

devices can be connected to each other and linked to the shore via

a single cable from the seabed. The current production machines

are 180m long and 4m in diameter, with power conversion

modules. Each machine can generate 750 kW and can meet the

annual electricity demand of approximately 1500 households.

One of the challenges facing energy efficiency is to produce

electrical energy proportional to the energy consumed, so

production should not be projected at low percentages. In

addition, the aforementioned systems have the particularity that the

July - December

piston mechanism that injects oil under pressure to a turbine

coupled to an electric generator. Its generation potential was

estimated at 750 kW.

While for the year 2011, in the Basque town of Mitriku a wave power

plant was installed with an installed power of 300 kW and 16

turbines supported by a budget of 2.3 million euros and uses the

technology called oscillating water column. However, in 2014, a

model for freshwater buoy with an arm that drives a hydraulic

anchored to an electric generator, creating another wave power

a continuous impact of the waves on the structure producing up

and down movements in the extremities, compressing the

freshwater in a high pressure system.

The analysis carried out on the energy potential of the existing

waves in the canton of Esmeraldas generated favorable results as

a possible means of generating alternative energy from the sea,

offering the necessary environmental parameters from the

characteristics of the waves as the average annual wave height, the

produced by the waves. The second option is the Oscillating Water

oscillations of the waves and collects it inside columns where the

water goes up and down, representing the operation of a piston

compressing and decompressing the air, transported to a turbine

where electricity is generated; The third known robotic sea serpent

system is an articulated, semi-submerged structure composed of

cylindrical sections joined by hinged joints and hydraulic disc

motors capable of generating renewable energy for populations of

no more than 500 homes.

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Palacios P., (2018) Simulación Mecatrónica Para La Generación De

Tecnología Mecánica (2020). Tecnología Mecánica.

Romero E., Guevara E., (2020) Alternativa tecnológica para el