EMROD, a New Zealand-based technology startup, announced that it had developed new long-range, high-powered wireless power transmission technology that could substitute existing copper lines.

The company explained that the technology uses electromagnetic waves to transfer power over long distances without the use of copper coils. The technology needs a transmitting antenna to send the power and a receiving antenna to receive and rectify the beam back to electricity.

EMROD said it designed and built the new technology in collaboration with Callaghan Innovation, a New-Zealand based innovation agency, adding that it also received some funding from the government.

“We have an abundance of clean hydro, solar, and wind energy available around the world, but there are costly challenges that come with delivering that energy using traditional methods,” said Greg Kushnir, Chief Executive Officer of EMROD.

Kushnir cited offshore wind farms in New Zealand, which require underwater cables that are expensive to install and maintain. He explained that the new technology could help transmit renewable energy from one place to another at much lower costs compared to traditional methods.

“The statistics are pretty compelling. We are talking about a potential 50% increase in sustainable energy uptake, up to 85% reduction in outages, and up to 65% reduction in electricity infrastructure cost due to the Emrod solution,” said Greg Kushnir, Chief Executive Officer of EMROD.

EMROD stated that Powerco, a New-Zealand based electricity distributor, would be the first to try out the new technology. It added that EMROD would provide the next prototype of technology to Powerco in October 2020. The company would execute lab testing of the prototype and train the Powerco team before the field trial.

“The system we are currently building for Powerco will transmit only a few kilowatts, but we can use the same technology to transmit 100 times power over a much longer distance,” said Kushnir.

The company said that its technology could reduce the electricity infrastructure cost, which could help provide low-cost sustainable energy to remote communities like in Africa and the Pacific Islands to energize hospitals, schools, and economies.

Meanwhile, India’s transmission infrastructure continues to worry stakeholders. The lack of transmission infrastructure to support new renewable energy capacity addition has also been a growing concern for solar and wind generators in the country, especially over the last few years, in light of the surge in renewable energy projects. Mercom has previously written about how India’s transmission and distribution system requires significant expansion, considering the rapid installation of solar and wind projects.

Image credit: EMROD