Carbon Trust: Marine renewables will be ready for mass scale deployment in 10 years + funding for 6 UK based technologies

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:

	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.
	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.
	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
	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.
	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.
	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:

http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/news/news/press-centre2010/2010/Pages/marine-energy-ready-for-mass-deployment.aspx

http://www.nce.co.uk/news/energy/uk-to-dominate-in-marine-and-tidal-energy/5213690.article?sm=5213690

http://www.aquamarinepower.com/technologies/

http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2010/02/aquamarine-gets-5-1m-to-develop-oyster-2?cmpid=WNL-Friday-February5-2010

“Devices with variable aspect ratios appear too ambitious” | tidal today

“Devices with variable aspect ratios appear too ambitious”

Published on Nov 3, 2008

Tidal Energy Special

Interview with Dr. Jochen Weilepp, head of Ocean Energies, Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation GmbH & Co

“Devices with variable aspect ratios appear too ambitious”

Published on Nov 3, 2008

Tidal Energy Special
Interview with Dr. Jochen Weilepp, head of Ocean Energies, Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation GmbH & Co

It was in July last year when Voith Siemens Hydro and Renetec had signed a joint venture.

The goal of the JV company is to assemble and market tidal current turbines with the primary aim of supplying the planned multi-unit 100MW project in the Jellonamdo province of South Korea.

Providing an insight into the progress made by the venture, Dr. Jochen Weilepp, head of Ocean Energies, Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation GmbH & Co told tidaltoday.com that the current focus is on following a risk-minimising staged approach, i.e. in the first two phases only a limited number of turbines will be installed and seriously tested. Upon proof of concept and reliability, production will be ramped up, and the project will be gradually installed. In parallel, market development for other projects in the region will be ramped up, too.

Considering such venture and accordingly reflecting upon the challenges for this sector to grow, Dr. Weilepp referred to the interdisciplinary approach developers have to follow.

“It is not only a question of designing a turbine that runs with a low maintenance intensity under water. Moreover, a support structure and a low-cost installation and retrieval concept must also be provided and successfully tested. This requires deep know-how in totally different engineering disciplines, paired with sufficient financial resources to finance both first test deployments and the required offshore equipment,” said Dr. Weilepp, who is scheduled to speak during the 2nd Annual Tidal Energy Summit 2008, to be held in London on 11-12 November this year.

He added, “There is considerable interest in this technology paired with a significant amount of hesitation. What the sector really needs is some showcases proving that the technology works reliably and that the risk of a potential investment is limited. Therefore a careful and risk-minimising engineering approach is needed. Accidents or failures do harm to the whole industry.”
Dr. Weilepp also spoke about the installation procedure, horizontal axis propeller-type machines, the importance of a set of standardised sizes for the industry and much more.
Excerpts from an interview:

tidaltoday.com:

According to Voith Siemens Hydro Tidal Corporation, the current development work is focused on a large local project, a tidal current power station, with a nominal output of approximately 600 MW. This power station can cover the annual electricity requirements of 400 000 households. Can you provide an update on this?

Dr. Jochen Weilepp: A project involving several hundred units, such as this one, needs careful engineering and a slow scale-up. After conceptual engineering of the machines is completed, detailed engineering and lab-based component testing for all relevant and new technologies is the next risk-mitigating step. This will be followed by installation of a 1:3 scale model and then a gradual scaling up, ultimately resulting in a product that can be manufactured in series production. We intend to install our pilot scale machine in winter 09/10 to provide a solid proof of concept. Such a careful step-by-step approach is required to gain the necessary experience without wasting too many resources or too much time.

 

tidaltoday.com: Considering tidal power stations’ requirement of large barrages in the sea, Voith Siemens Hydro develops tidal power stations that do not utilise the water storage but, similar to wind power stations, exploit the kinetic energy of the current and are operated fully under water. Can you provide info on the planning and execution which goes behind installation of a bridge-like structure?

Dr. Jochen Weilepp: For the time being, we do not follow the bridge-type structure approach, but rather a single support structure per turbine unit. Due to the limited availability of marine equipment to install machines in water depths below 40m, we believe that the solution will in many cases be a gravity-based solution.

Once the seabed is carefully prepared, the installation procedure is rather quick and therefore tailored to the tidal flow environment, where the water stands still for approximately one hour or even less.

tidaltoday.com: In your opinion, what is critical when it comes to working on robust mechanical and electrical designs that can deliver more durable tidal devices that are easier to operate in harsh marine conditions?

Dr. Jochen Weilepp: The machine in development should be simple and robust. Any complex electronics or mechanics that might possibly fail under water will most probably fail. A successful machine will not be characterised by the number features it has but rather by the features it does not need. In our case, we do not use gearbox, electrical excitation, shaft seals, blade pitch, yaw systems or oils and greases. Instead, we try to let physics do the job, by using direct drive, permanent magnet excitation, static seals, torque control, bi-directional blades and sea water lubricated bearings. For the first machines, we even expect the power electronics to be fully land-based, so that the component which has been the most critical in wind power is not placed under water.

tidaltoday.com: Recently, an industry professional said: “In terms of tidal energy, many of the ideas are based on tried and tested technology i.e. propellor-based designs. Investors currently seem to favour such designs as they are in many ways low risk ventures. We are convinced that propellors, although suitable for low energy density environments (wind) in the long-term, water will require a device which has a larger surface area in order to produce a better energy extraction to infrastructure cost ratio.” How do you assess the situation?

Dr. Jochen Weilepp: In general, I would agree with this statement: The bigger, the better. However, we are restricted by some boundary conditions like water depth and the considerably large thrust load that a slowly flowing liquid imposes on a structure. Therefore, I believe that horizontal axis propeller-type machines, with all their limits, also have their advantages. Instead of building large structures, which are difficult to handle under water, I personally believe modular structures that can be mass-produced and installed with minimal effort will be beneficial.

tidaltoday.com: Do you think that the market will require devices that have a variable aspect ratio, in other words, be able to make the device tall and thin or short and wide; these devices of which there are a number will be able to be designed to fit the context. Also, considering that tidal extraction is a unique challenge, do you think it will be a while before developers can prove the efficiency and survivability of these novel designs?

Dr. Jochen Weilepp: While I do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach, I believe that the market requires a set of standardised sizes. Variable aspect ratios appear too ambitious. This might reduce engineering costs, but it increases device costs and complexity.

In general, I strongly believe in simplicity of engineering for this harsh environment. However, there are also more complex approaches in the market, which also have their pros.

What counts for a potential customer is the cost of energy production determined over the life-time of the project. Determinants for this cost of energy production are device costs, installation costs, ground preparation costs, O&M costs, decommissioning costs, resource, efficiency, up-/downtime, life-time and perceived technology risk just to mention the ones the developer can influence. All systems will be evaluated along those lines and finally the most effective ones will win. Like in the wind industry, this will take at least 10 years.

2nd Annual Tidal Energy Summit 2008

Dr. Jochen Weilepp, Head of Ocean Energies, Voith Siemens Hydro Power Generation GmbH & Co is scheduled to present a case study on “How to Reduce your O&M Costs with Simple Device Design and Construction” during the 2nd Annual Tidal Energy Summit 2008, to be held in London on 11-12 November this year.

For more information, click here: http://www.tidaltoday.com/tidal08/programme1.shtml

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