Wave power station. Wave striking Limpet 500, the world's first commercial-scale wave power station. Limpet generates 500 kilowatts of electricity, enough to power 300 homes. It lies on the coast of Islay, a Scottish Hebridean Island. As the wave moves into this partly-submerged hollow concrete chamber, air is forced out through a turbine- containing blowhole in its rear. When the wave falls, air is sucked back through the blowhole. Electricity is generated using a Wells turbine that rotates the same way despite the two-way air flow. Limpet (Land Installed Marine Power Energy Transformer) was built by Queens University, Nor- thern Ireland, and Wavegen. Photographed in 2000.