Posted in offshore wind, wave
Tagged floating wind turbines, Oyster, PowerBuoy, WaveHub
As read on Renewable Energy World site:
£3 million awarded.
Aquamarine Power Oyster project consists of three 800-kilowatt (kW) flaps, each measuring 26 metres by 16 meters, linked to a single onshore 2.4 MW hydro-electric turbine.
Installation is planned to start in Summer 2011 at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC).
It follows successful testing of smaller prototype at same site.
From Carbon Trust press release on feb 2nd:
"Marine energy is currently ten years behind offshore wind energy in its development, but [...] costs can be dramatically reduced over the next ten years, which could see up to a thousand devices operating in the water by 2020. [...] Marine energy will be ready for mass scale deployment and an important new commercial UK industry by 2020"
"[...] Generating electricity from the UK’s powerful wave and tidal resource not only plays a crucial role in meeting our climate change targets but also presents a significant economic opportunity for the UK. Wave alone presents a £2 billion economic opportunity for the UK. [...] Carbon Trust analysis shows that 25% of the world’s wave and tidal technologies are being developed in the UK. Marine energy is an emerging industry with massive growth potential and each successful technology is competing for a stake in what will be a major growth industry.”
Details on Carbon Trust new funding:
" Carbon Trust [...] announces the six most promising technologies that will today receive £22m new funding to speed up the deployment of full scale prototypes of their leading designs. [...]
Designed and managed by the Carbon Trust, the Marine Renewable Proving Fund (MRPF) uses new funding from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The MRPF marks a new level of commitment to developing wave and tidal technologies by helping the UK’s most promising technologies to progress towards early stage deployment and accelerating the first commercial projects in UK waters."
And this is what they look like:
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Hammerfest Strøm UK 1MW HS-1000 tidal system Norwegian blade system held in place by ballast, operating in Norway for severl years.Next generation will be deployed at EMEC in 2011. |
![clip_image002[4]](http://marineenergysystems.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/clip_image0024.jpg?w=244&h=138 "clip_image002[4]") |
Voith 1MW Tidal Turbine German company established in hydropower turbine design. Tidal design uses propeller-style blades to drive turbines. 300kW prototype working off Korea.1MW design to be deployed at EMEC in 2011. |
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Aquamarine 2.5MW Oyster 2 wave system Effectively a giant hinge that opens and closes from wave movement. Action drives water pumps that in turn drive turbines on land. Very few moving parts. The 315-kilowatt (kW) Oyster 1 device was officially connected to the National Grid at EMEC in November 2009 and is currently undergoing sea trials to gather data to finalise the Oyster 2 design, which will be deployed as a 2.5-megawatt (MW) pod of three linked devices powering a single onshore hydro-electric generator Deployment at EMEC in 2011 for commercial deployment planned in 2013 |
![clip_image002[6]](http://marineenergysystems.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/clip_image0026.jpg?w=244&h=182 "clip_image002[6]") |
Marine Current Turbines 1.2MW SeaGen tidal system 16m twin turbine system attached to central column has been operating in the Bristol channel for several years, and money will take system forward to commercial demonstration. |
![clip_image002[8]](http://marineenergysystems.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/clip_image0028.jpg?w=244&h=164 "clip_image002[8]") |
Atlantis AK-1000 1MW Tidal Turbine Uses 18m bi-directional turbine design with high-efficiency blades. Only moving part in design is central shaft.To be deployed at EMEC in 2011. |
![clip_image002[10]](http://marineenergysystems.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/clip_image00210.jpg?w=244&h=182 "clip_image002[10]") |
Pelamis P2 750kW wave system Characteristic ‘snake’ design generates electricity as articulations between units move. Modular design allows parts to be exchanged easily.Will be deployed at EMEC in the summer of 2010. |
References:
a useful review of current (December 2009) wave and tidal projects in hydroworld.com
< Proponents of wave and tidal power have compared the state of this area of the renewable energy sector with the early days of wind power. The technology has great potential but still must prove itself before it can be widely deployed.
Wave energy technology uses the movement of ocean waves to generate electricity from turbines. Wave power differs from tidal power, which is based on extracting energy from tidal movements and the water currents that accompany their rise and fall.
Experts estimate tidal energy’s advantage lies in its predictability. Wave energy could be more abundant than tidal energy while still being less intermittent than wind or solar power.
Conditions along coastlines or on the ocean surface, however, can be hard on wave and tidal installations. Generation assets must be built with operational hazards such as crashing waves, corrosive salt water and other dangers in mind.
Potential
According to the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) at Scotland’s Orkney Islands, the best wave climates—with yearly average power levels between 20-70 kW/m of wave front or higher—are where strong storms occur. The extent to which this will prove practical to harness, however, will depend upon the successful development of near-shore and deep-water technologies.
The most energetic wave resources are along the coasts of the Americas, Europe, Southern Africa, Australia and New Zealand.
The EMEC is one of the world’s foremost proving grounds for wave and tidal technologies and has collected more than 100 wave energy concepts, with many still at the research and development stage.
Wave and tidal technologies can be three to four times more expensive than wind power per megawatt, so many installations were developed and supported with government financial backing.
The United Kingdom remains one of the largest state sponsors of wave and tidal power. The U.K. government granted $3.8 million from an $83 million pot created under the Marine Renewables Deployment Fund, which began in 2004.
More than $33 million has been earmarked for a new Marine Renewables Proving Fund with a further $15.7 million going to develop a Wave Hub off Cornwall and $13.2 million for the EMEC.
Setbacks
Scottish firm Pelamis Wave Power, which changed its name in 2007 from Ocean Power Delivery, launched a project in Portugal called the Agucadoura wave farm. The project consisted of three of the company’s P1-A Marine Energy Converters.
In September 2008, the company installed the energy converters 3 miles off the coast of northern Portugal. In mid-November 2008, all units were removed from the ocean when leaks were discovered in the buoyancy tanks.
Compounding Agucadoura’s woes, Pelamis couldn’t get the financial support to re-launch the units after the technical problems were solved. Following the global economic downturn, sponsor Babcock & Brown withdrew from the project.
By March 2009, Agucadoura was taken offline indefinitely with about $13 million spent on the project.
In February, Pelamis won an order from British renewable company E.ON for the next generation of Pelamis Marine Energy Converters, which the company calls the P-2. The machine will be built at PWP’s facility at Leith Docks, Edinburgh, and tested at the EMEC at Scotland’s Orkney Islands.
Projects
Despite the cancelation and scaling back of some projects following the economic crisis, there are still wave and tidal projects taking shape.
In November, Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) won a $61 million grant from the Australian government for a utility-scale project. The company said work on the 19-MW project is expected to begin by the second quarter of 2010. Further funding will be needed to complete the project, the company said.
OPT’s PowerBuoy floats freely with the rising and falling of offshore waves. The resulting motion is converted with a power take-off to drive a generator. The generated power is transmitted ashore via an underwater power cable.
A 10-MW OPT power station would occupy about 30 acres of ocean space. The technology is scalable up to 100 MW, the company said.
In 2008, OPT won a $2-million award from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in support of OPT’s wave power project in Reedsport, Ore. Major portions of the PB150 PowerBuoy will be fabricated and integrated in Oregon. This was the first award for the building of ocean wave energy systems by the DOE, according to the company.
OPT also has worked with the U.S. Navy on its Deep Water Acoustic Distribution System program. The company is supplying its PowerBuoy technology to the project, which is designed to demonstrate the potential of powering sensor networks over wide areas of the ocean.
Irish tidal energy company OpenHydro won a grant of nearly $3 million in October from Sustainable Energy Ireland’s Ocean Energy Prototype Research and Development Programme. The grant will be used to design and develop a 16-meter Open Center Turbine, Subsea Base and Installation Barge.
The turbine is mounted on the seabed below the ocean waves. Invisible from the surface and silent, the turbines generate up to 1 MW of electricity.
Also in 2009, OpenHydro paired with Nova Scotia Power to unveil a 1-MW tidal turbine to be deployed in the Bay of Fundy. The project will serve as part of Nova Scotia’s tidal power test facility. The Open Center Turbine was manufactured in Ireland by OpenHydro. The turbine will rest directly on the ocean floor using a subsea gravity base fabricated by Cherubini Metal Works.
Oysters and Limpets
Aquamarine Power is a wave energy company whose Oyster Wave Energy Converter has been tested and deployed at the New and Renewable Energy Centre near Newcastle, England.
Oyster is an onshore, commercial-scale pumping cylinder that can deliver more than 170 kW of electricity per unit. A full-scale Oyster uses two pumping cylinders and can deliver in excess of its modeled output of 350 kW.
Oyster is designed to capture the energy found in near-shore waves up to depths of 10 to 12 meters. The device combines new technologies with a hydroelectric power generation system. A commercial farm of just Oyster devices (15 MW) could provide clean renewable energy to 9,000 homes. Aquamarine tested the Oyster in summer 2009 at the EMEC. The company also has an agreement with Airtricity, the renewable energy division of Scottish and Southern Energy, to develop sites capable of hosting 1,000 MW of marine energy by 2020 suitable for deployment of Oyster.
Wavegen, a unit of Voith Hydro with its headquarters in Inverness, Scotland, produces a shoreline wave energy conversion unit called Limpet. The technology is in use and has been connected to Scotland’s power grid since 2000.
The technology used is called an oscillating water column. Ocean waves move air in and out of chambers in a breakwater, which in turn drives Wavegen’s turbine, known as the Wells turbine, to generate electricity.
The 18.5-kW modules are meant for use in breakwaters, coastal defenses, land reclamation schemes and harbor walls.
Wavegen teamed up with Npower Renewables in 2006 to plan a wave power plant for the Scottish island Lewis. The Siadar Wave Energy Project earned the approval of the Scottish government in January.
The project will harness power from the Atlantic waves in Siadar Bay to generate up to 4 MW of electricity. The energy produced each year could supply the average annual electricity needs of about 1,500 homes in the Western Isles.
This article was reprinted from Electric Light and Power’s December 2009 issue >
Oyster device switched on after generating £1m for Orkney Friday 20 November 2009
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond switched on the Oyster wave device today Aquamarine Power’s ‘Oyster’ wave energy device has been switched on today (November 20) after it was revealed to have generated more than £1 million for the Orkney economy through development expenditure.
First Minister for Scotland Alex Salmond turned on the 500kW wave power convertor to be tested at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), which received a boost of £2.5 million in funding from the Scottish government earlier this week (see this NewEnergyFocus.com story). The device has now begun producing electricity by pumping high pressure water to its onshore hydro-electric turbine. This electricity will be fed into the National Grid to power homes in Orkney and beyond. It is claimed that a farm of 20 Oysters would provide enough energy to power 9,000 three bedroom family homes.
Speaking at the launch, Mr Salmond said: “I’m delighted to see first-hand the full-scale Oyster now installed and operating offshore. This is a key milestone for Aquamarine Power and for Scotland’s marine renewables sector. “Scotland’s potential renewables capacity is estimated to be around 60GW. Our waters hold around ten per cent of Europe’s wave power potential and as much as a quarter of its tidal power potential. The European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) provides world-leading test facilities for Aquamarine and other companies to develop the technology needed to harness this huge untapped potential.” He also confirmed further R&D funding of almost £1m to Aquamarine Power for the development of Oyster 2, which could be installed within two years.
Oyster is Edinburgh-based wave energy company Aquamarine Power’s first demonstration-scale wave energy device. Its performance will now be monitored and the results from the testing will provide a basis for the design of the next-generation commercial-scale Oyster. It is designed to capture the energy found in nearshore waves in water depths between 10 and 16 metres. The device was first put into the water at EMEC’s Billia Croo wave testing site in August 2009. Economy boost Figures released by Aquamarine Power this week (November 19) show that the installation of the Oyster device involved more than 30 local companies ranging from engineering and construction contractors to environmental consultancies, diving and vessel hire, event organisers and photographers. It is claimed that the actual expenditure on local contractors and suppliers came to more than £1 million. In addition, the company had seven staff working full-time in Orkney during the installation of the device.
Chief executive officer of Aquamarine Power, Martin McAdam, said: “Our figures demonstrate the positive impact that wave energy can have on the Orkney economy. “A successful Oyster project would unlock £3-4 million of capital expenditure per MW installed, of which a significant proportion would be invested in the Orkney economy. A commercial wave farm could therefore represent a significant boost to the local economy and would provide long-term skilled jobs for local residents.” He also claimed that ongoing operation and maintenance would generate a further £150,000 per annum to the local economy. Convener of Orkney Islands council, Stephen Hagan, said: “Orkney’s efforts to support the development of marine renewables in Scotland has been further rewarded with the successful installation of Aquamarine Power’s Oyster device. The skills and experience developing in the county will help ensure that Orkney remains at the forefront of renewable energy developments into the future. “We remain committed to supporting this sector and ensuring that Orkney can put forward the best it has to offer, to optimise further growth and expansion in the industry.”
via: NewEnergyFocus
18 September 2009
Like many of the current crop of ‘cutting edge’ renewable energy technologies, the concept of extracting energy from waves and tides is not a new one. Indeed, it is well over 100 years since the first tidal wheel was built and the 240 MW La Rance tidal barrage project in Brittany, France, has been operating for well over 40 years. What has changed over the intervening years is the level of urgency with which such projects are now being addressed and the technical achievements by some manufacturers which are making tidal and wave energy a reality.
Alongside growing interest in the UK, USA, and Portugal, countries such as Canada, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and other nations are also expressing support for ocean energy development.
Blessed with one of the longest coastlines of any country in Europe, large tidal ranges and strong winds, it is perhaps obvious that as the home of one of the largest marine energy resources, the United Kingdom should also sport by far the largest concentration of marine power companies in the world. However, while the UK has taken a lead, it is far from alone. According to the IEA-OES, also known as the Implementing Agreement on Ocean Energy Systems which functions within a framework created by the International Energy Agency (IEA), by the end of 2008, more than 25 countries were involved in ocean renewable energy technology development activities. With the deployment of multi-unit wave technology in Portugal, and the commencement of construction of a 260 MW tidal power plant in South Korea standing out as noteworthy.
However, although government support from a few countries has to some extent enabled the ongoing commercialization of ocean energy technologies, a lack of targeted national priorities and policies remains a major barrier. Certainly, the stakes are potentially high.
For example, some analysis suggests that the accessible resource in waters around the UK, taking into account constraints on available sites for a wide variety of reasons, could be as much as 700 TWh per year. Similarly, it has been estimated that the North American marine energy resource could realistically supply some 10% of US electricity demand.
Policy and Government Support
Government engagement with marine technology has been something of a mixed bag. In the UK, for example, support has been relatively high when compared with other sectors. However, Denmark, for instance, ended its wave energy development programme in 2002, leaving the country without a dedicated policy.
Resource assessment is a key step in building marine energy capacity and in one of the more significant developments for the UK industry over the past year, a study to determine the potential for marine energy in English and Welsh waters was announced by the government in April 2009. The new scoping study will look at wave, tidal-stream and tidal range technologies along the English and Welsh coastline. (See caption and credit information for image by clicking on it in the image gallery at the end of this article.)
The devolved Scottish government, meanwhile, is further along, having already produced a preliminary Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for marine energy in Scotland. And, in September 2008, the Crown Estate outlined the application and consent procedure for wave and tidal energy projects in the Pentland Firth, in Scotland, which contains some of the best locations for wave energy in the world. The Firth is the first UK marine power site to be opened up for commercial-scale development, with the aim of developing an installed capacity of more than 700 MW by 2020. The process of granting options for lease over areas of seabed in the Pentland Firth and surrounding area is due to be concluded in the summer of 2009, with deployed as early as 2010 or 2011.
Announcing the decision for England and Wales, the minister for sustainable development and energy innovation, Lord Hunt, said: ‘The marine energy sector has reached a pivotal stage with more and more devices ready to go into the water.’
However, even in the UK the support available has faced criticism. For example, in 2009, the first companies are expected to qualify to receive funding under the Marine Renewables Deployment Fund, which provides £50 million (US$75 million) to support wave and tidal stream technologies in the UK. This sounds positive, but the industry is concerned that the support is only available to companies which have been operating a full-scale prototype for at least three months, a measure which has been criticized given that devices have only recently entered the water. Parliamentary questions found that the entire budget for the Wave and Tidal-stream Energy Demonstration Scheme has remained unspent since it was announced in 2004. Nonetheless, it does set a premium of £100/MWh for electricity produced from marine energy, and this is on top of the retail price of electricity and the Renewables Obligation (RO), which requires utility groups to source a growing proportion of their electricity from renewables. The main support scheme for renewable electricity projects in the UK, the RO is to be revised upwards for marine energy when the government introduces banding for emerging technologies which require more support, such as marine and offshore wind.
In a move first mooted in 2007, ocean energy systems are due to receive 2 ROCs for each MWh produced, double the current level.
Perhaps at least as significant for the industry’s long-term development, in December 2008, the government published a new Marine and Coastal Access Bill, designed to give greater confidence and economic benefits for marine developers through simplification of the legislative framework, and balance the interests of conservation, renewable energy and other marine interests. Through the legislation, the government intends to set up a new Marine Management Organisation (MMO) to oversee the majority of marine planning applications and the bill will also create a strategic marine planning system.
Elsewhere in Europe, in Portugal for example – which boasts the world’s first commercial marine energy installation – a feed-in tariff for wave energy was established in 2007 mandating a euro260/MWh price for the first 20 MW installed. While in the US, members of both houses of Congress are calling on the Department of Energy (DOE) to allocate $250 million of the $2.5 billion in stimulus funding for renewable energy research and development to the emerging marine renewable energy industry.
And, in a 2009 Earth Day speech President Barack Obama announced that the Department of the Interior has now finalized a long-awaited framework for renewable energy production on the US Outer Continental Shelf (OCS). The framework establishes a programme to grant leases, easements and rights-of-way for orderly, safe and environmentally responsible renewable energy development activities, such as the siting and construction of wave farms on the OCS. Alongside growing interest in the UK, USA, and Portugal, countries such as Canada, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Chile, Mexico and other nations are also expressing support for ocean energy development.
Wave Energy Generators
Though still at an early stage of development, the marine energy sector has already seen a number of technologies progressed to the point of commercial installation. The rapid emergence of new machines, continuous development of more established ones, and the wealth of on-going R&D leaves no real consensus over which designs will ultimately emerge to produce electricity from the ocean most efficiently and cheaply, and yet which remain sufficiently robust to survive the rigours of a life at sea. Indeed, a large number of competing, sometimes unexpected, designs for producing wave and tidal power all but swamp the horizon.
Oscillating water column (OWC) is one technology that is being explored by a number of companies.
For instance, Orecon’s wave to energy buoy is based on a multi-resonant chamber (MRC) oscillating water column and a HydroAir bi-directional air impulse turbine supplied by Dresser-Rand Company Ltd, the two have also signed a memorandum of understanding to optimise the design for the device. Orecon has also signed an agreement with Portuguese developer Eneólica to establish a Joint Venture company to build and deploy Orecon’s first full-scale 1.5-MW MRC buoy in a grid-connected installation. Once the first unit is commissioned, two further MRCs will be added, increasing output to 4.5 MW and making it the world’s largest operating wave farm to date. The partners say they intend to develop further sites in Portugal over the next 10 years.
Another OWC design that is subject to advanced testing and planning is the Danish development Wave Dragon. A prototype project was installed in Nissum Bredning as early as 2003 and Wave Dragon plans to deploy a 7-MW Wave Dragon off the coast of Milford Haven in Wales in the spring of 2010. The company also plans to install 10 machines in Portugal between 2011 and 2012 and an additional 10 machines in an array off Wales in 2013. OWC-type machines of various designs and to varying degrees of success have also been built in Australia, Scotland, Norway, Japan, India, and Portugal.
One of the most commercially advanced offshore wave power devices is the Pelamis machine (see image, above), a 750 kW, snake-like machine developed by Edinburgh-based Pelamis Wave Power (PWP). Following a period of testing at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney, the world’s first commercial wave energy installation, a 2.25-MW development in Portuguese waters has been developed with energy company Enersis. The three machines, near Póvoa do Varzim some 5 km offshore, are known as the Aguçadoura wave farm.
Another example comes from New Jersey, USA-based Ocean Power Technologies (OPT) and its PowerBuoy. It is due to install one of 150 kW devices at EMEC, while in the longer term it intends to develop a 5-MW wave farm, consisting of buoys arranged in a grid, planned as part of the UK’s Wave Hub project. The device, which uses waves to move the buoy up and down converts the resultant mechanical stroking via a power take-off to drive an electrical generator, is expected to be ready for deployment and grid connection in 2009. In the past year OPT says it has reached two major manufacturing milestones in the development of its flagship PB150 PowerBuoy device with projects at locations including Reedsport in Oregon, Victoria, Australia and in the UK.
The design is similar in concept to that of Wavebob Ltd of Ireland, which has signed a co-operation agreement with Vattenfall AB for the possible development of a 250-MW demonstration project using its Wavebob device.
Another device that uses the linear motion of waves to generate energy is Trident Energy’s machine. This machine is solidly anchored, rather than self-reacting using inertial forces like OPT and Wavebob, and floats are used to drive linear generators. Trident Energy is currently in the final stages of preparing for a year-long deployment of a fully functional test rig in the North Sea off England’s east coast. The test rig will generate about 20 kW from eight full scale linear generators.
Other designs of wave energy devices include the Archimedes Wave Swing developed by Scotland’s AWS Ocean Energy, Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation’s WaveGen and Isle of Man-based Renewable Energy Holdings plc (REH) with its CETO device.
The CETO uses a submerged piston to deliver high pressure water to shore which is then used in conventional hydro technology. Test deployment of a full-scale CETO III unit is due for completion in 2009, with commercial rollout anticipated shortly thereafter.
In April 2009 Aquamarine Power announced that it is to commence installation of its 350-kW Oyster wave energy machine at EMEC in the summer of 2009 and with Airtricity, the renewable energy division of Scottish and Southern Energy, a deal is place to develop sites capable of hosting 1 GW of marine energy by 2020. The device consists of an oscillating flap, which, as with the CETO design, pumps high pressure water through an on-shore turbine to generate electricity. (See image, left.)
Many novel wave devices, such as the Green Ocean Energy Ltd Wave Treader machine, which attaches to offshore wind farm monopiles and shares infrastructure, or the rubbery submarine-like tube that is the Anaconda from Checkmate Seaenergy Ltd are at far earlier stages of development than other designs. Nonetheless, they represent interesting avenues for the development of commercial wave energy.
Tidal Current Energy
As with wave energy, there are a variety of competing devices which generate electricity from tidal currents. These can broadly be divided into those that operate in shallow shoreline water and those that work in deep fast-moving tidal channels. Most of the devices approaching commercialization are in this second category.
One of the most commercially advanced of the tidal companies is Marine Current Turbines (MCT). The company has installed its new SeaGen device, a two-rotor machine capable of generating 1.2-MW, in Stangford Narrows in Northern Ireland. In July 2008, having briefly exported power the grid, it became one of the world’s first commercial-scale tidal turbines installed and operating.
MCT intends to deploy a series of SeaGen devices in projects off Anglesey and on the Canadian seaboard within the next few years, and has already secured backing of npower Renewables to execute plans for a 10.5 MW-tidal farm scheme in an area of 25 metre-deep open sea known as the Skerries, off the north-west coast of Anglesey. Subject to successful planning consent and financing, the tidal farm could begin commercial operations as early as 2011 or 2012. It has also agreed a partnership with Canada’s Minas Basin Pulp and Power Company Ltd for a demonstration project in the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.
The company followed this up by applying for a lease from the Crown Estate to deploy up to 50 MW of its machines in the Pentland Firth. Subject to financing and securing the necessary approvals, the company says it expects to install up to 50 MW by 2015.
In another tidal turbine development, utility group Scottish Power has teamed up with Hammerfast Strøm of Norway to install a 1-MW full-scale prototype tidal turbine in Scotland, with a view to eventually developing tidal farms of 100 MW or more. Manufacture of the prototype began in 2008, with installation during 2009. Using the device Scottish Power also plans to install three tidal energy farms off Scotland and Northern Ireland with a total capacity of up to 60 MW, which could be operational by 2011, the company says. The facility will use the Lànstrøm tidal turbine, developed by Hammerfest Strøm AS.
Meanwhile, Irish company Open Hydro has been testing their 250 kW open centred, rim generator device, at EMEC in the Orkneys since September 2008. And, in April 2009, the company awarded a contract to Cherubini Metal Works of Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, for the supply of a subsea base to support the installation of its first tidal turbine in Canadian waters. The unit is scheduled for deployment this autumn in the Minas Passage of the Bay of Fundy and the project is being developed in partnership with Nova Scotia Power and with support from Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC). Work is expected to complete in August 2009. Open Hydro has also partnered with EDF in plans to install four to 10 of their turbines off the coast of Brittany and the company has also announced that it has secured a contract to develop a pilot project for Snohomish County Public Utility District, a public utility in Washington State, USA. The contract to develop a tidal project in the Admiralty Inlet region of the Puget Sound involves the installation of up to three turbines. Installation is expected to begin as early as 2011.
Elsewhere in the USA, a number of marine current energy trials are underway, for example Verdant Power has tested six of its 35-kW turbines in New York’s East River, but it is only in the last year that the first commercial hydrokinetic turbine has been installed. Hydro Green Energy LLC completed the installation of one of two surface-suspended turbines at what it claims is the United States’ first-ever commercial hydrokinetic power project, near the City of Hastings in Minnesota, in late 2008.
Another tidal stream turbine comes from Lunar Energy. The company has forged an alliance with EON to develop an 8 MW project off the Welsh coast using 1-MW horizontal-axis systems developed by Rotech Tidal Tubines (RTT). The development follows Lunar Energy’s March 2008 agreement with Korean Midland Power Co (KOMIPO), to supply a giant 300-turbine field in the Wando Hoenggan Water Way off the South Korean coast. The field is expected to supply electricity by 2015.
In the southern hemisphere, in March 2009 Singapore’s Atlantis Resources Corp signed a co-operation agreement with Norwegian utility group Statkraft to develop tidal current electricity generation projects in Europe using its 400-kW Nereus II and 500-kW Solon turbines. In December 2008, Atlantis signed the world’s largest tidal energy generation agreement with Hong Kong-based CLP Group, increasing Atlantis’ electricity-generating project pipeline to 800 MW. The commercial launch of a 2-MW Solon turbine is expected soon.
A Creative Explosion
One key characteristic of the marine energy sector which makes it all but impossible to pick a winning technology is the burst of creativity that has seen a wealth of novel designs emerge.
As with wave energy devices, a number of novel designs have emerged which seek to generate energy from tidal currents. One such device is under development by Australia’s BioPower Systems. The so-called bioSTREAM is based on the highly efficient propulsion of Thunniform-mode swimming species, such as shark, tuna, and mackerel and the machine mimics the shape and motion characteristics of these species, but is a fixed device in a moving stream. In this configuration the propulsion mechanism is reversed, and the energy in the passing flow is used to drive the device motion against the resisting torque of an electrical generator. Systems are being developed for 250 kW, 500 kW, and 1 MW capacities to match conditions in various locations.
Meanwhile, World Energy Research and Blue Energy Canada have signed a joint agreement under which World Energy Research would finance the development of Blue Energy Canada’s first 200 MW commercial tidal power project at a cost of roughly $500 million using a novel vertical-axis hydro turbine.
There are also other types of ocean energy that have yet to be explored to any great extent and which include technologies such as those which exploit an osmotic gradient or so-called Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) systems, which rely on a thermal gradient. It may be hard to pick a technology winner, but the vast quantities of energy potentially available suggests that a winner will indeed emerge.
The precise predictability of the tides and the vast quantities of energy potentially available has prompted continued interest in tidal barrage technologies.
Although only a very few tidal barrage projects of any size are currently operating, alongside La Rance is the 18 MW Annapolis Royal Tidal plant in Canada’s Bay of Fundy which has been operating since 1984, a number of smaller schemes do exist. In China, for example, the IEA reports that there are at least seven tidal barrage plants with a capacity of 5 MW or more.
In addition, plans for more tidal barrage development are well underway. In South Korea, the Sihwa Tidal Power Plant project would generate 260 MW, making it the largest such project in the world. The approximately $250 million project is already under construction and will consist of 10 turbines and is expected to be completed in 2009. South Korea has also announced plans for other tidal barrage schemes, including the 520 MW Garolim Bay development. This installation is expected to be completed some time in 2014.
Other countries blessed with large tidal ranges and suitable geography include the USA, India, Mexico and Canada.
In the UK, the Severn Estuary with its 14-metre tidal range has been the site of proposed tidal barrage schemes for well over 100 years and with a potential generating capacity estimated at more than 8 GW, some 5% of current UK requirements.
Subject to an on-going two-year feasibility study led by consulting firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, significant environmental, not to say engineering and financial, challenges remain.
So far, a public consultation has arrived at a proposed shortlist of five schemes from 10 original proposals, which includes a mixture of barrages and tidal lagoon schemes.
Elsewhere in the UK, feasibility studies have considered tidal barrage schemes in the Eastern Irish Sea, the northwest of England – including the Solway Firth, and the estuary of the River Mersey, among other locations.
Posted in barrage, fixed, floating, stream, tethered, thermo, tidal and currents, wave
Tagged Anaconda, Archimedes Wave Swing, Atlantis, bioSTREAM, CETO, Lunar Energy, OpenHydro, Orecon, OTEC, Oyster, Pelamis, PowerBuoy, Rotech Tidal Turbines, SeaGen, South Korea, status reports, Strøm, Trident Energy, Wave Dragon, Wave Treader, Wavebob, Wavegen
Crucial phase of Oyster installation completed at EMECBack
12 August 2009
Oyster, the UK’s first nearshore wave energy converter, moved another step closer to generating clean, green energy with today’s announcement that Aquamarine Power has just completed the crucial first phase of its deployment at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) at Billia Croo in Orkney.
In a carefully planned operation, the 194-tonne full scale device was lowered onto its seabed subframe and bolted in place.
The next step will be to connect the Oyster to sub-sea pipelines which will deliver high pressure fresh water to an onshore turbine ahead of grid connection and sea trials later this year.
Oyster is designed to capture the energy found in nearshore waves up to depths of 10 to 12 metres. A commercial farm of just 20 devices (10MW) could provide clean renewable energy to a town of 6,500 homes.
The benefit of Oyster is its simplicity. There are minimal moving parts and all electrical components are onshore, making it robust enough to withstand the rigours of Scotland’s harsh seas.
Martin McAdam, Chief Executive Officer of Aquamarine Power, commented:
“Getting Oyster into the water and connected to the seabed was always going to be the most difficult step and its completion is a real credit to everyone who has worked hard on planning and executing this major engineering feat on schedule and without any complications.
“No one has deployed a nearshore wave device before so we had to plan every detail of the operation. We have a fantastic and experienced offshore team at Aquamarine Power but we could not have done this on our own, in total we have about 15 different companies working on this project, together with our main contractor Fugro Seacore. They have all done a great job.
“Completion of this milestone is a giant leap for the company and for the marine energy industry in general. There will obviously be challenges ahead but we are now working on connecting the device to the grid ahead of offshore testing.
“Generating electricity, however, will be the ultimate test, and we are confident we will deliver power to the national grid by the end of the year.”
Marine energy firm Aquamarine Power has made a “significant” investment in a company developing a tidal stream device said to be suitable for high-energy environments like the Pentland Firth.
The Edinburgh company has backed Ocean Flow Energy, which is run by Graeme Mackie, a naval architect involved in developing Aquamarine Power’s own “Oyster” wave power device over the last three years.
Ocean Flow Energy is developing a floating device called an “Evopod”, which is capable of hosting a tidal stream turbine.
The system, which could ultimately be used to mount Aquamarine’s own “Neptune” turbine is moored, but otherwise able to move to find the best direction to generate power from tidal flow.
Ocean Flow Energy, which is based in North Shields, has already worked with the wave and tidal power research group at Queen’s University Belfast and the New and Renewable Energy Centre (NaREC) on its device.
It began testing a tenth scale prototype in Strangford Narrows, Northern Ireland, in June 2008. A smaller device has already been tested at the University of Newcastle’s flume tanks.
The Aquamarine investment should now lead to development of a full-scale device.
Graeme Mackie said today: “We have made significant progress with the device to date, taking it out of the tank and into real tidal flow conditions at Strangford. Together with Aquamarine Power we are looking forward to launching a second, full scale device at sea.”
Aquamarine Power, which did not disclose the exact sum of the investment, said the Evopod would compliment its existing marine energy technologies.
It said the semi-submersible Evopod was designed to generate electricity in “exposed, deep water sites”.
And, with deployment and maintenance systems as important as technology concerns to marine energy projects, the company said the Evopod system is easily accessible from the water, with a special proprietary system to easily disconnect the floating rig from its mooring lines.
“The device’s patented low motion hull is innovative in that it makes it suitable for operation in harsh environments, such as the Pentland Firth,” the company said.
The Pentland Firth, between the Orkney Isles and mainland Scotland, is one of the first areas of the UK coastline to be opened up for marine energy projects (see this New Energy Focus story).
The two companies have suggested that the Evopod system could ultimately be used to mount Aquamarine’s own tidal turbine system, called Neptune.
Aquamarine Power chief executive Martin McAdam said: “We are very enthusiastic about the new partnership with Ocean Flow Energy and are delighted to be working with the team. It is an important step toward accessing the full range of tidal stream energy out there.
“With more than 50% of the UK’s tidal resource located in waters greater than 40 metres deep, the market demand for Evopod is expected to be very strong and Aquamarine Power will be taking full advantage of that,” Mr McAdam added.
Mr Mackie said of the Aquamarine Power investment: “This is a major milestone on the path to commercialisation for Ocean Flow Energy and demonstrates the confidence that people have in the device and its potential to create clean, green energy.”
via New Energy Focus – Aquamarine invests in tidal device suitable for Pentland Firth.
