Ocean Power Magazine » The HydroWing by SeaKinetics

The HydroWing by SeaKinetics

SeaKinetics has developed an innovative, tethered tidal and marine current energy converter known as the HydroWing, for the purpose of generating renewable, zero carbon emission energy. The device is patented, and has been developed in an iterative process over five years.

The HydroWing is a marine current turbine power system which operates anchored, submerged at a variable depth, and is capable of operating in depths of up to 150 meters.

A power station or farm is composed of an array of HydroWings connected to an underwater power substation which acts as their hub to the ground grid link. Each individual HydroWing self-aligns to the flow and can be independently controlled to vary its depth according to the operating program in use.

For stability and balance, each HydroWing is equipped with a hydrofoil lifting surface which counteracts the downward pull created by the mooring cable acting against the drag forces created by the turbines generating power.

 

The key benefits of the HydroWing design concept are:

1.Operates submerged at the most favourable depth in order to harvest an optimal amount of energy from the current.

2.Access to virtually all of the economically significant tidal sites, due to ability to operate in deep waters.

3.High load factors (40%) are feasible due to the controlled depth capability.

4.Operating below the sea surface the HydroWing does not risk being destroyed by storms or wave action as wave loading is negligible.

5.Given a typical operating depth of greater than 30 meters below sea level, the HydroWing Arrays will not present an obstruction or hazard to shipping.

6.Debris including containers, logs and plastic bags tend to either float on the surface or sink. Operating below the surface means not risking these and other very real hazards.

7.The Hybrid Hydrofoil Nozzle technology provides an effective means of achieving the lift that is essential for all submerged moored configurations thus enabling the turbines to operate in an optimal position in the current flow.

8.The Hybrid Hydrofoil Nozzle technology also provides the Diffuser Augmentation action which accelerates water flow through the turbines providing more power per square meter of turbine surface area.

9.The combination of Diffuser Augmentation and optimal placement in the current which is a unique feature of this design allows the HydroWing to operate also in slow current speeds (1.6 m/s TBC) which provides the opportunity to extract industrial quantities of power from ocean currents.

10.High power to turbine size ratio due to the VASAF augmented nozzle configuration leads to low cost of energy.

11.The Navionics package governs the HydroWing via hydroplane control surfaces and ballast trim tanks which provide the required stability and manoeuvrability.

12.A multiplicity of cross-axial turbines are mounted on coupled counter-rotating shafts allowing them to share gearboxes and generators thus substantially reducing costs and simplifying maintenance.

13.This modular system allows for the HydroWing to be scaled up in size to create a power generators potentially larger than horizontal axis turbines systems.

14.The tethered configuration provides self aligning capabilities which considerably simplify the system by eliminating the need for yaw control.

15.As the tidal stream reverses the HydroWing is designed to manoeuvre by drawing power from the grid to operate its turbines. It can thus be brought to its new position in a controlled operation, ensuring that the mooring cables do not get caught up on themselves or on obstacles.

16.The cross-axial configuration adopted by the HydroWing allows for faster shaft speeds thus reducing gearbox size, complexity, and cost. Reliability also increases and thus maintenance costs and downtime are reduced.

17.Ease of deployment and installation.

18.On site maintenance leading to reduced downtime

An actual power plant configuration will be made up of an array of identical HydroWing units sharing the ground-link between national grid and seaside substation, in the same way off shore wind farms are configured.

 

A marine energy farm based on an array of identical elements enables the farm to capture economy of scale in two ways:

1.transmission of power produced through a common ground link;

2.modular construction of array elements.

Elements of the array may differ in minor details, specifically in tether-line length, if the channel depth varies substantially. However, all other aspects are common to all elements.

UK tidal resources have been independently assessed showing that two areas of particular interest are located in Scotland and in the Channel Islands. Both areas are characterized by strong currents and deep waters, ideal conditions for the HydroWing. Several sites are present in both these areas so that further scale economies may be achieved as maintenance infrastructure can by shared among nearby sites.

Source: SeaKinetics

via Ocean Power Magazine » The HydroWing by SeaKinetics.

OPT | Ocean Power Technologies | News Release

Ocean Power Technologies Completes Successful Trials of Underwater Substation Pod

PENNINGTON, N.J., Nov 02, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. (Nasdaq: OPTT and London Stock Exchange AIM: OPT) (“OPT” or the “Company”) announces the successful completion of trials of its Underwater Substation Pod #”USP”# product in Spain. The USP, based on the Company’s proprietary design, has been developed to facilitate the collection, networking and transforming of power and data generated by up to ten of its PowerBuoys for transmission to a shore-based electricity grid by one subsea power cable. It has been built as an open platform, and can therefore provide “plug and play” connectivity for any offshore energy device linked to it.

Underwater trials of the USP included pressure testing, running electric power to and from the system, and verification of data communication capabilities.

The completion of this significant milestone by OPT is part of an Engineering, Procurement and Construction contract with Iberdrola Marinas de Cantabria, a special purpose company whose shareholders include:-

Iberdrola S.A., the major Spanish utility company;

Sodercan, the regional development agency for the Cantabria region of northern Spain;

IDAE, the energy agency of the Spanish government; and

Total, the oil and gas company.

OPT believes that the USP is a unique product in the offshore market and creates a potentially new revenue stream for the Company from sales to third parties engaged in marine power development and other offshore activities. Current sources of OPT’s revenues are PowerBuoys designed for utility-scale power generation projects and autonomous applications such as offshore homeland security.

The USP was designed and developed entirely by the Company from concept to manufacture and successful underwater testing. The majority of offshore energy systems generate electricity at low voltage and need to step-up to medium or high voltage for efficient transmission to shore. Additionally, offshore power projects typically have a number of devices (wind turbines, wave energy converters, tidal devices) that need to be networked offshore so that a single subsea cable can export the power and data to the shore. OPT has fully analyzed these requirements and developed its innovative USP to meet these performance demands. In order to minimize the cost and complexity of marine operations, innovative connections and disconnections have also been designed to be undertaken at the sea surface using standard vessels.

Stuart Bower, Engineering and Projects Director of Ocean Power Technologies Limited, who led the development team of this exciting new product, stated: “This project has been a true engineering challenge of converting an idea on a “whiteboard” into reality and demonstrates how the Company’s technical base can be used to create valuable intellectual property. Comparable products used in the offshore oil and gas industry do not have the USP’s advantages for higher power capacity, longer life expectancy, fewer moving parts, a passive cooling system, lower cost per MegaWatt, and the ability to accommodate many power generation devices. We are delighted at the potential value the USP can bring to wave power projects and other offshore energy markets.”

via OPT | Ocean Power Technologies | News Release.

Ireland Selected for Wave-Energy Project – Renewable Energy World

19 October 2009

Ireland Selected for Wave-Energy Project

STOCKHOLM, Sweden [HydroWorld.com]

Swedish power utility Vattenfall and Irish wave-energy developer Wavebob announced on Monday plans to build a commercial-scale wave-energy project off the west coast of Ireland.

The two companies have formed a joint venture company, known as Tonn Energy, to conduct research and development near Belmullet, Mayo. The project is being backed by the government of Ireland. The level of investment was not disclosed.

“With its magnificent ocean wave resource and commitment by the government, Ireland has become a focal point for the development of commercial ocean wave energy,” said Goran Dandanell, head of Busines Development at Vattenfall UK. “Vattenfall’s long-term goal is to halve the emissions per produced unit of energy by 2030, compared with 1990 levels, and to be emission neutral by 2050.”

Wavebob, Vattenfall’s joint venture partner, was recently helped by Ireland’s Electricity Supply Board, which signed a deal to help the company develop its wave energy converter technology. (From HydroWorld.com)

via Ireland Selected for Wave-Energy Project – Renewable Energy World##.

Ocean Power Magazine » Spanish Global Development Company adds Wave Energy to its Portfolio

Spanish Global Development Company adds Wave Energy to its Portfolio

Australia’s ocean energy company, BioPower Systems, today announced that it had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Spanish Global Project Development Company Elecnor SA.

The MOU establishes a process for the two companies to work towards agreements for development of wave energy projects using BioPower’s proprietary bioWAVE™ technology in Elecnor’s core business regions; Spain, Portugal and South America.

The bioWAVE™ system is designed to supply utility-scale grid-connected renewable energy while being out of view, and without affecting marine life. The unique system sways in tune with the forces of the ocean, and naturally streamlines when extreme conditions prevail, leading to cost-competitive lightweight designs. Multiple bioWAVE™ devices, each with a capacity of 1MW, are designed to be installed in undersea wave energy farms, where the combined power output is then supplied to the on-land grid via subsea cable.

Elecnor’s Director of Business Development, Mr. A. Javier Esquivias, said that the company has developed a large international portfolio of wind and solar energy projects, and the extension into marine energy is a logical next step. “Wave energy is now emerging as a new clean energy source and we recognise many advantages if the right technology is used.

BioPower appears to have solved the problems associated with earlier wave energy technologies and we are hopeful that their bioWAVE™ will be an enormous commercial success.

Elecnor has a wealth of experience in electrical infrastructure and renewable energy projects, which can be mobilised to support wave energy projects,” Mr. Esquivias said. BioPower’s CEO, Dr Tim Finnigan, said the two companies were planning a demonstration project in Spain that would follow the upcoming bioWAVE™ pilot testing in Australia. The demonstration project in Spain could commence as early as 2011.

“Elecnor has proven credentials in the development and delivery of renewable energy projects. This capability will speed up the process of rolling out our bioWAVE™ product in large-scale wave energy farms.

After the first demonstration of a full-scale bioWAVE™ device in Spain, we would intend to commence developing wave energy farms. The involvement of a large company like Elecnor is critical to achieving this, and we are very pleased to be working with them” Dr Finnigan added.

About Elecnor Group SA

The Elecnor Group is one of the leading Spanish companies dedicated to engineering, constructing and developing infrastructures in the fields of energy, the environment and information technologies.

It is a Spanish private-capital company, whose shares are quoted on the Mercado Continuo de la Bolsa Española (Spanish Continuous Market). Backed by its 50-year track record, its ongoing growth and diversification have allowed it to position itself among the main Spanish companies and as a clear leader among the companies in its sector.

Thanks to its clear international vocation, it is now present in more than twenty countries, where its operations are run by the 8,400 professionals that make up its workforce. Its sphere of influence covers four major business areas: Networks and Infrastructures, Renewable Energies, Technology and Information Systems and Concessions.

About BioPower Systems

Australia’s ocean energy company, BioPower Systems, is commercialising wave and tidal energy systems that incorporate revolutionary designs based on the concept of biomimicry. BioPower is designing its systems to naturally avoid extreme ocean forces, using light-weight construction, resulting in anticipated cost savings. The proprietary bioWAVETM and bioSTREAMTM technologies are designed to have a combination of lighter, more resilient structures to deliver both lower capital costs and lower energy generation costs.

www.biopowersystems.com

via Ocean Power Magazine » Spanish Global Development Company adds Wave Energy to its Portfolio.

NewEnergyFocus.com – Marine generator project to estimate renewable energy yields

Marine generator project to estimate renewable energy yields

An £8 million project to develop software which can estimate the average annual energy production of a wave or tidal farm has been approved in the hope of encouraging investment in the sector, writes Rachael Meredith.

The “performance assessment of wave and tidal array systems” (PerAWaT) project, launched by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) today (October 30 2009), aims to reduce the uncertainty and investment risk faced by project developers when planning large scale wave and tidal energy schemes by predicting the performance of generator arrays.

ETI is a UK-based company formed from the private and public sector and says that it “brings together projects and partnerships that create affordable, reliable, clean energy for heat, power and transport”. The company launched a marine programme in December 2007 aiming to increase deployment in the sector.

After inviting expressions of interest for companies to develop technology to help reach this goal, the PerWaT project – led by renewable energy technical and engineering consultancy Garrad Hassan -  was awarded £8 million in funding from the ETI to develop a series of models to predict the performance of wave and tidal stream generator arrays.

The Garrad Hassan-led project includes EDF Energy, EON, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Oxford, Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Manchester

There is currently no software package or validated method of estimating the average annual energy production of a wave or tidal stream energy farm and the expected benefits of the project were highlighted by ETI chief executive, Dr David Clarke.

Uncertainty

Dr Clarke said: “Although the UK has huge marine potential, investment is being held back by uncertainty about the overall costs involved and the potential returns on investment in wave and tidal technologies. This project will deliver greatly improved modelling tools to provide more accurate forecasting of energy yields and reduce the uncertainty and investment risk faced by project developers when planning large scale wave and tidal energy schemes.”  

He added that the project would build on existing knowledge to “accelerate the development of sophisticated tools that will become essential as the marine energy industry matures” arguing that “no single company or university would be capable of doing this work alone. The ETI has played a key role in bringing together a consortium of experts to deliver this critical work. It is an important step to unlocking the considerable potential of marine energy.”

The ETI’s six private members are BP, Caterpillar, EDF Energy, E.ON, Rolls-Royce and Shell. The ETI’s public funds are received from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills through the Technology Strategy Board and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). These organisations, together with the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC), are engaged directly in the ETI’s strategy and programme development.

Funding

The £8 million funding for the PerAWaT project was provided by the institute. ETI’s money is made up of 50% private sector funding and 50% government funding.

Garrad Hassan Marine Renewables group leader, Dr Robert Rawlinson-Smith, added: ” The ETI core objective of accelerating the commercial deployment of energy technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions will be addressed by this project as it will both establish and validate numerical models capable of predicting the performance of wave & tidal energy converters (WECs and TECs) when operating in arrays.”

Dr Rawlinson-Smith continued: “Once established, the models will enhance levels of confidence in the design of WEC and TEC arrays and therefore accelerate their large scale deployment. By accelerating deployment rates the project will directly address the ETI Marine Programme outcome goal of increasing deployment to 2GW by 2020 and 30GW by 2050.”

via NewEnergyFocus.com – Marine generator project to estimate renewable energy yields.

Severn Barrage: Not until after 2020 | Online news | New Civil Engineer

Energy minister Lord Hunt has said that any Severn Barrage scheme would be unlikely before 2020, and that costs for the shortlisted schemes could rise, with connections to the National Grid alone projected to cost some £2bn.

 

Speaking to the House of Commons’ energy and climate change committee, Hunt was answering questions about the proposed Severn Barrage schemes.

Hunt said that construction of a scheme by 2020 was unlikely. “You can construct a timetable for one of the smaller schemes so it could be operational by 2020,” but indicated that this would be tight, and committee member indicated their scepticism. Such a timetable would be simply impossible for the larger schemes, he said.

Hunt said that the five shortlisted schemes may not be a final list, and that rejected schemes could make it back on the shortlist once technology had caught up. “It might be that we have to go back to schemes in a couple of year to see whether the technology has caught up.

“But we want to see how far we can take this shortlist and move to a decision next year,” he said.

Hunt said that for some of the smaller schemes, private money alone fund them but the massive Cardiff-Weston barrage was simply too large. “Inevitably public finances would be used, especially for the Cardiff-Weston scheme because of the huge size and cost.”

Hunt added that existing subsidies for renewable energy schemes were not suitable for the Cardiff-Weston scheme, although one of the smaller schemes – presumably the Beachley Barrage – does fit existing criteria as its generating output is less than 1GW.

But the massive Cardiff-Weston Barrage would need a special kind of subsidy to work, as the costs are so high, Hunt said.

“The scale of the Cardiff-Weston Barrage is huge and would have great implications for grid infrastructure. Costs of conversion run to £2bn at least,” he said.

An aide to Lord Hunt indicated that a ‘smart grid’ would be needed to manage the times when the Barrage could produce power – determined by the tides, so often at inconvenient times.

She also said that the cost – approximately £21bn would; “Change because it would go up.” She said costs were based on studies carried out in the 1980s and 1990s and adjusted for today. A realistic cost would be calculated differently, and would be likely to increase outturn costs.

Hunt also said that the decision to build a Barrage would not determine whether the UK would meet its renewable power targets, and that: “I am confident we will meet the targets without this and we should not include a Severn scheme in planning to 2020.”

He said to include any scheme at the Severn would; “Preclude any decisions we make and we must decide this through the proper channels,” he said.

Hunt said other technologies such as carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is; “Hugely important for this country,” and said he hoped a scheme would be in operation by 2020.

Finally Hunt said any scheme would carefully consider environmental impacts. “There will be impacts and if you cannot mitigate, then look at compensation. If that cannot be managed, then develop a scheme of equal environmental value. We could look at other parts of the country, with provision for species of equal value,” he said.

He said economic and environmental impacts would be given equal consideration, and that the ‘step change’ required by the Committee on Climate Change was already in action.

The five shortlisted schemes:

• 8.64GW Cardiff-Weston barrage, costing £20.9bn;
• 1.05GW Shoots barrage, costing £3.2bn;
• 0.625GW Beachley barrage, costing £2.3bn;
• 1.36GW lagoon at Bridgewater Bay costing £3.8bn
• 1.36GW lagoon at Welsh grounds, costing £4bn.

via Severn Barrage: Not until after 2020 | Online news | New Civil Engineer.

Lockheed dives into developing wave energy, buoyed by OPT tech ¦ cleantech.com

Aerospace giant pulls out of utility-scale solar project as it looks to progress PowerBuoy system with marine-power firm.

Lockheed Martin and Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) said today they have officially signed a commercial engineering services agreement to develop OPT’s wave energy systems to be used in future utility-scale power generation projects.

The announcement builds on a letter of intent signed by the two companies in January to co-develop utility-scale power generation projects in North America, Lockheed spokewoman Kim Martinez told the Cleantech Group today (see Lockheed, OPT partner on utility-scale wave energy).

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.

The news comes on the heels of a significant setback to a 290-megawatt concentrating solar power plant that was expected to include the Bethesda, Md.-based aerospace giant. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) decided not to move forward with participating in the project due to its size and risk associated with the contract. The plant is still expected to move forward, but on a smaller scale. 

However, Martinez reaffirmed the company’s interest and expertise in helping to progress utility-scale wave generation projects with OPT. As early as the 1970s, Lockheed has been working on ocean thermal energy conversion, she said.

Marine-power firm OPT’s PowerBuoy system is based on modular ocean buoys that capture and convert wave energy into what the company claims is low-cost, clean electricity, which would be transferred to the shore by underwater power transmission lines (see OPT records $8M backlog for wave-energy devices).

OPT said the technology uses “smart buoys,” based on hydrodynamics, electronics, energy conversion and computer control systems. OPT (Nasdaq:OPTT) is headquartered in Pennington, N.J., with offices in the UK.

A 10-megawatt utility power station using OPT’s PowerBuoy technology would take up about 30 acres (0.125 square kilometers) of ocean space, the company said.

It’s not clear how many PowerBuoys would be needed for a power station of this size. The company could not be reached for comment.

Lockheed said it plans to provide assistance with systems integration, manufacturing and testing of the technology so it can be optimized at utility scale.

Martinez said Lockheed wants to have a similar relationship with OPT as it does through engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts with the solar sector.

“We provide the construction, systems integration and deployment of the plant and the maintenance and operations,” said Martinez, of EPC contracts.

Lockheed has previously said it’s working with Greenwich, Conn.-based Starwood Energy Group Global for utility-scale solar projects in North America (Lockheed Martin, Starwood Energy to pursue utility scale solar). Starwood Energy is the energy investment arm of private equity firm Starwood Capital Group Global.

However, the first project Lockheed and Starwood had planned to tackle to provide power to Arizona Public Service is no longer going to include Lockheed as the EPC contractor, Martinez said.

In May, Starwood and Lockheed announced plans to build what was expected to be the world’s largest dispatchable solar energy plant, at 290 MW, capable of providing enough electricity for nearly all 73,000 Arizona Public Service electricity customers (see Starwood, Lockheed team up to provide solar thermal power to Arizona utility). The cost of the project was not disclosed.

Starwood said it is still planning to pursue the project, but on a smaller scale. The Starwood-owned facility, which had been slated for completion in 2013, was expected to be located in Maricopa County, Ariz., 75 miles west of Phoenix.

 

via cleantech.com/news

Osmotic power plant to receive royal debut in Norway | Cleantech Group

October 7, 2009

Norwegian electric company Statkraft is expected to open the first power plant that harnesses unique saltwater and freshwater combination to generate power.

The world’s first osmotic power plant is expected to open next month at Tofte, outside of Oslo. And the facility will be getting an imperial unveiling from the Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway.

The plant, being developed by Norwegian state-owned electricity company Statkraft, is expected to generate power from energy retrieved from the difference in the salt concentration between seawater and river water, Statkraft said today.

With the technology, saltwater and freshwater are funneled into separate chambers, divided by an artificial semi-permeable membrane, according to Statkraft. The salt molecules in the seawater pull the freshwater through the membrane, increasing pressure on the seawater side.

The pressure comes in the form of a 120-meter water column or waterfall that can be utilized in a power generating turbine.

Statkraft said today it has been researching the renewable and emissions-free energy source for the past 10 years.

In theory, osmotic power plants can be located wherever rivers meet the sea. The plants are quiet and can be integrated into existing industrial zones, such as the basements of industrial buildings, the company said.

The prototype—which has been under development for more than a year in cooperation with research and development organizations from various countries—is expected to open Nov. 24, with limited, undisclosed production capacity. It will be used for testing and development. Financial details were also not disclosed.

Within a few years, Statkraft plans to construct a commercial osmotic power plant.

Statkraft said the global potential of osmotic power is estimated at 1,600-1,700 terrawatt hours per year, or the same as 50 percent of the European Union’s total power production.

Statkraft also develops and generates hydropower, wind power, marine energy, solar power and other energy solutions (see Statkraft, SCA to build 2.8TWh of wind and Statkraft takes stake in Arise Windpower). Statkraft had €3.1 billion ($4.5 billion) in gross operating revenue for 2008.

via Osmotic power plant to receive royal debut in Norway | Cleantech Group.

AW-Energy signs wave tech contract with EU | Business News | Energy Digital

AW-Energy signs wave tech contract with EU

WaveRoller brand will be demonstrated in Portuguese waters, By Sarah Wolfe

AW-Energy has signed a $4.4 million contract with the European Union to demonstrate its ocean energy innovation. The Finland-based company is developing a unique and patented wave power technology called WaveRoller.

The contract is the first of its kind under the EU’s “CALL FP7 – Demonstration of the Innovative Full Size Systems” project, and provides funding to the new project. The overall goal is to manufacture and install the first grid-connected WaveRoller unit off the coast of Peniche, Portugal, which is known for high wave activity. The total capacity would be 300kW with a one-year testing period, AW-Energy reports.

The project is being led by AW-Energy and involves several European companies including Bosch-Rexroth, ABB, Eneolica and the Wave Energy Center organization. With approval for a site and grid connection and installation, the consortium will bring its skills to the project’s demonstration phase.

via AW-Energy signs wave tech contract with EU | Business News | Energy Digital.

Renewable energy? It’s an offshore thing | Business | guardian.co.uk

Terry Macalister, guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 October 2009

Imagine what it is like to open the bonnet of your car, stand on top of the engine and be hoisted 85m above the North Sea on a perilously narrow pole. The view on a clear day is breathtaking, but when the wind is blowing so hard the whole contraption swings 4m from side to side, it is grim – even for Leif Bolther.

This 51-year-old Swede, with forearms that would shame Arnold Schwarzenegger, is a seasoned technician in the wind industry. Blooded in the Norwegian offshore oil sector, Bolther has worked in the remotest parts of China and India, but still admits: “It can be hard up there in the terrible cold and freezing rain.”

The tough but affable Swede is part of a burgeoning workforce promising a renewable revolution far out to sea. It will replicate the earlier North Sea oil industry, except that it is carbon-free and a vital tool in the battle against global warming.

Bolther works for the turbine manufacturer Siemens in Danish and Swedish waters, where much of the early running has been made in the offshore wind industry. Lillgrund, located 10km off the coast close to the median line with Denmark, is Sweden’s biggest wind farm. The 48 turbines produce 110MW of power, enough to light 60,000 homes.

But this week Britain will unveil much more radical plans for this side of the North Sea. The Crown Estate on Wednesday will give briefings on what is known as Round Three (R3) licensing awards, which will take the industry out into much deeper waters. Shortlists have been drawn up and the Crown Estate will soon announce which companies and consortia have been chosen. Nine areas, including the Dogger Bank, acreage off Norfolk and the Firth of Forth, have been designated for development.

The third licensing round is a step change for the UK offshore industry, offering developers the chance to build 25GW of new power. Under rounds one and two, which started in 2000, 8GW can be developed. Combined, the total of 33GW would represent more than 10 times what is produced from wind power today. That would help Britain meet its European Union-agreed targets of producing 20% of electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Today it is a tiny fraction of that, while wind already provides Denmark with 20% of its power.

Deep water areas are convenient in that they are far from centres of population and so free in theory from the kind of opposition that has dogged onshore wind farms. But there are still planning issues because of birds and radar, while putting turbines up in the North Sea is costly and time-consuming. They need specialist floating cranes, cable-laying vessels and even platforms to support them.

The Carbon Trust, a government-funded agency set up to promote clean technology, has predicted that a successful R3 could propel Britain towards a £70bn wind and wave market that would support 250,000 jobs. “These technologies are not green ‘nice to haves’ but are critical to the economic recovery of the UK,” says chief executive Tom Delay.

Butwhile R3 is needed to help the government meet its carbon emission targets, developers are wary about the economics. The London Array, much closer to shore off Kent, has been dogged by worries that it cannot be commercial even with enhanced public subsidies. There are also concerns about who will develop and pay for the grid connections and whether the whole enterprise will be undermined by ministerial commitment to nuclear.

Siemens is keen to build one new turbine manufacturing plant in Europe, but has not decided where. René Umlauft, chief executive of its renewable energy division, says the successful launch of R3 is vital to the decision-making process. “We are looking at two locations [for factories] in the UK, one in Denmark and one in Germany. Great Britain has the advantage of R3, which could result in a huge market,” he told the Guardian.

GE and Mitsubishi are also considering a turbine plant in Britain, while Clipper has just been awarded a government grant to develop a new generation of blades at a factory in Blyth, in the north-east of England.

Siemens claims it is already involved in commercially competitive wind farms in New Zealand and expects to do the same in Mexico and Brazil. Umlauft says parts of Scotland could see a similar situation unfold in eight years’ time, depending on the relative cost of oil and other fuels.

But that is onshore. For offshore wind to thrive, certainly without state support, there needs to be a lot of technological innovation. That is why Clipper, Siemens and others are working flat out to find ways to cut operating costs. There is also a need for investors. The green energy sector has been hit harder than most by the credit crunch, with stocks seen as speculative and uncertain.

The big utilities can develop wind farms out of their own balance sheets, but the smaller independents are heavily dependent on banks that have retreated from what they see as riskier schemes.

New figures out last week suggest a bounceback in confidence, however, for the wider clean technology sector. The London-based consultancy New Energy Finance says $26bn of new investment was made in the three months to September 30, double the amount seen in the first quarter of 2009. The WilderHill New Energy Global Innovation index, a basket of stocks covering wind, solar and fuel cells, has risen by 40% this year.

The renewed optimism comes as global leaders prepare for the Copenhagen climate change talks in December. This should pave the way for a wider successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, which started the ball rolling for Co² cuts and the development of low-carbon energy programmes. The squabbling about who pays what goes on but the world’s biggest carbon polluters, China and the US, are playing far more constructive roles than they have in the past.

In the meantime the wind industry continues with its work. Dong Energy of Denmark, one of the companies hoping to win R3 licenses, has just started up its 91-turbine Horns Rev 2 scheme in the North Sea. This is the biggest offshore wind farm in the world, but it is a measure of the pace of the sector that it will only hold that record until the 140-turbine Greater Gabbard field comes on stream off Britain next year. And after that it will be 340 turbines on the London Array.

This has brought contracts for Siemens and is all potential work for Bolther, even before R3 kicks in. Despite having to climb those 85m towers, the Swede is happy: “It’s relatively well paid and it’s better than the oil rigs. I like to think I am doing something worthwhile: working on clean energy.”

via Renewable energy? It’s an offshore thing | Business | guardian.co.uk.