Seagen Tidal Power Project Hits Full Speed
Posted by Big Gav in marine current turbines, ocean energy, tidal power
CleanTechnica has a post on the Seagen tidal power system in Northern Ireland generating at full capacity for the first time - SeaGen Shatters Tidal Power Generation Record.
Since its inception, we have been keeping a close eye on Marine Current Turbine’s SeaGen project in the UK, the world’s first commercial scale tidal stream turbine. Well, today there is more big news to report from the strong tidal flows of Strangford Lough as SeaGen has generated at its maximum capacity of 1.2MW for the first time. Thus far, this is the highest power produced by a tidal stream system anywhere in the world and exceeds the previous highest output of 300kW produced in 2004 by the company’s earlier SeaFlow system, off the north Devon coast. ...
According to company officials, now that SeaGen has reached full power it will move towards full-operating mode for periods of up to 22 hours a day, with regular inspections and performance testing undertaken as part of the project’s development program. ...
Drawing on its experience at Strangford Lough, MCT’s next project is a joint initiative with npower renewables to build a 10.5MW project using seven SeaGen turbines off the coast of north Wales. That project is scheduled to come online in late 2011/early 2012.
Next100 also has a post on ocean energy, looking at activity in Scotland - Making Waves in Scotland.
With 745 miles of coastline, California could potentially meet more than a fifth of its electricity needs from renewable ocean wave power, according to the California Energy Commission.
But while the state does little to develop that immense resource, Scotland took a great leap forward this month with the announcement of the Saltire Prize--worth 10 million British pounds--for the best innovation in marine energy technology. Already, the prize has reportedly attracted 33 entries from five continents.
The huge award will go to the team that best delivers, off the Scottish coast, "a commercially viable wave or tidal energy technology that achieves a minimum electrical output of 100 GWh over a continuous two-year period using only the power of the sea."
Scotland isn't placing all its wave power bets on the prize, however. A Scottish firm, Pelamis Wave Power Ltd., installed the world's first commercial ocean electricity generators off the coast of Portugal in September and plans similar installations in Scotland and England. It is already considered a world leader in the technology.
Also in September, Scottish Power said it was considering three coastal sites to install the world's biggest tidal power project by 2011.
Scotland first minister Alex Salmond said he hoped the latter announcement was a harbinger of things to come. "Scotland has a marine energy resource which is unrivalled in Europe," he said. "We have an estimated 25 per cent of Europe's tidal resource and 10 per cent of its wave potential."
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