Wavegarden has announced a strategic partnership with Leitner, one of the world's leading manufacturers of ropeway systems.
You need heavy engineering to produce the longest man-made waves in the planet. And that is why Wavegarden will use Leitner's DirectDrive - a low-speed synchronous, electric motor - to pump perfect surfing rides.
"To develop the technology we required, it was essential to collaborate with a company that makes precision machinery which is highly reliable, even in extreme conditions," explains Josema Odriozola, CEO at Wavegarden.
"Leitner ropeways systems have been used to transport people all over the place: skiers and snowboarders to the top of mountain resorts and the public to sightseeing locations and urban areas."
The DirectDrive system can withstand forces up to 20 tonnes, requires minimal maintenance and is noise and pollution free. To ensure absolute reliability with no risk of stopping while in use, the system has back-up by redundancy, meaning critical components and functions of the drive system are duplicated to increase its reliability which is essential for any successful sports/leisure park business, especially in peak season.
The drive system is capable of producing the longest man-made waves in the world that hold their form and power over any distance; the only limit to the length of the wave is the length of the lagoon. Leitner also confirms that the operation avoids unpredictable currents.
This technology will be introduced at Surf Snowdonia in North Wales this summer, and at NLand Surf Park in Austin, Texas in 2016. Wavegarden has additional plans for installing surf pools in Australia, the Middle East, as well as major cities such as Madrid.
"With our DirectDrive technology, we achieved excellent results not only for our ropeway systems but we also increased the efficiency and reliability of our wind turbines and urban transportation considerably. Since our technology is extremely versatile we were looking to broaden the areas of solutions," adds Anton Seeber, CEO at Leitner.