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Posted: 31-10-2012 10:03 Post subject:

First wave energy device to be deployed at Hayle
12:00pm Tuesday 30th October 2012

The company planning to install the first wave energy device at Wave Hub near Hayle has applied for a marine licence for the deployment.
Cork-based Ocean Energy has asked the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) for permission to deploy its €9 million OE Buoy wave energy converter at Wave Hub, around 10 miles off the north coast of Cornwall in South West England.

The one megawatt device weighs 650-tonnes. OEL is in discussions with local supply chain companies about support with fabrication and deployment, and hopes to operate from the newly refurbished North Quay in Hayle Harbour. [I was there just yesterday!]

Claire Gibson, general manager at Wave Hub, which is the world’s largest grid-connected offshore marine energy test site, said: “Ocean Energy’s application for a marine licence marks a significant milestone for us and is a further important step towards a full scale device deployment at Wave Hub.”

John McCarthy, chief executive and co-founder of Ocean Energy said: “Having completed successful trials of a scale device for over three years in Galway Bay we are keen to progress to a full size prototype at a grid connected site. Wave Hub gives us the infrastructure and conditions we need to achieve this and it is an excellent accelerant for our commercialisation.”

The application comes as two independent reports recently confirmed the huge potential for wave energy in the South West. Studies by The Crown Estate and Carbon Trust found significant offshore resource that could potentially power tens of thousands of homes if harnessed economically.
The reports are expected to inform future licensing rounds for the commercial development of marine renewables.

Ocean Energy already has MMO consent to carry out anchor trials at the Wave Hub site. These will get underway if the full consent is granted and test whether the proposed anchoring system is suitable for the location. A decision on the consent is expected by the end of the year.

Ocean Energy is participating in this project with its technology partner Dresser-Rand, the largest service provider in the oil and gas industry. The OE Buoy weighs 650 tonnes, is 37.5 metres long, 18 metres wide and has a draft of 8.75 metres.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/10015001.First_wave_energy_device_to_be_deployed_at_Hayle__Wave_Hub_/?ref=mr

Posted: 31-10-2012 10:11 Post subject:

However...

Death knell for wind farms: 'Enough is Enough' says minister
Wind farms have been “peppered” across Britain without enough consideration for the countryside and people’s homes, a senior Conservative energy minister admitted last night as he warned “enough is enough”.
By Robert Winnett, Political Editor
10:25PM GMT 30 Oct 2012

John Hayes said that we can “no longer have wind turbines imposed on communities” and added that it “seems extraordinary” they have allowed to spread so much throughout the country.
The energy minister said he had ordered a new analysis of the case for onshore wind power which would form the basis of future government policy, rather than “a bourgeois Left article of faith based on some academic perspective”. The comments sparked speculation that Conservative ministers are planning to drop their support for wind farms — a move which would trigger a major Coalition rift.

Mr Hayes, who was appointed energy minister in last month’s reshuffle, is understood to believe that there should be a moratorium on new onshore wind farms. Almost 4,000 turbines are set to be built across Britain in the coming years.

Several senior Tories, including Owen Paterson, the new Environment Secretary, also believe the wind farm “blight” has not been properly considered before allowing development. Mr Paterson will formally respond to a government review on the community benefit of wind farms shortly and is expected to warn about their impact on rural areas.

etc...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/9644558/Death-knell-for-wind-farms-Enough-is-Enough-says-minister.html

Over 800 comments!

Posted: 14-01-2013 08:48 Post subject:

UK tidal power has huge potential, say scientists
By Matt McGrath, Environment correspondent, BBC News

The UK is underestimating the amount of electricity that could be generated from tidal sources, new research says.
The analysis says that estuary barrages and tidal streams could provide more than 20% of the nation's demand for electricity.

Despite high costs, experts say tidal power is more reliable than wind.
The predictable nature of tides makes them an ideal renewable energy source, the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A reports.

But finding effective ways of utilising their latent power have proved elusive.
Essentially, engineers try to tap tides in two ways: one involves building barrages across tidal estuaries that use the ebb and flow of the waters to turn turbines - a major project of this type had been proposed for the River Severn.
The other method involves planting turbines underwater in fast flowing tidal streams in areas such as in coastal waters around Cornwall and Scotland.

In the Royal Society report, researchers say they are "extremely optimistic" that both types of technology can be realised and relatively soon.

"From tidal barrages you can reasonably expect you can get 15% of UK electricity needs, that's a very solid number," co-author Dr Nicholas Yates from the National Oceanography Centre told BBC News.
"On top of that there is a 5% tidal stream figure, and with future technological development that is likely to be an underestimate in my view," he said.

The massive Severn estuary tidal barrage scheme had been rejected by the coalition government because of its environmental impact, but ministers have indicated they are open to review the idea.

Despite his faith in the idea of barrages, Dr Yates says he is against building one across the Severn.
"I think it's unfortunate that attention for tidal range has tended to focus on the Severn, it's the wrong place to start, it's too big," he said.
"Start small, it's what the Danes did with wind - start small, learn quick and build up.".

Developing power from offshore tidal streams is fraught with difficulty, as the BBC discovered when reporting on the emerging industry in Scotland last year.
But according to the authors of the latest research, 2013 could see a big breakthrough in tidal stream power. A company called MeyGen is planning to deploy tidal stream technology in the Pentland Firth that will initially generate up to 40MW of electricity, enough to power about 38,000 homes.

"This is a crucial milestone for us, it will be the first array of tidal stream turbines," observed report co-author Professor AbuBakr Bahaj from the University of Southampton.
"It will be a viable proposition for us in energetic areas of the sea - it will be give us another element in the energy mix that's more reliable than wind."

Another key element that researchers have looked at in this research is the quality of the power produced by tidal sources.
The SeaGen project in Northern Ireland is the largest grid connected tidal turbine in the world.
Analysts have been looking to see if the power produced suffered from flicker, caused by loads that vary. It's an established problem with older wind energy turbines and something that causes consumers great annoyance when it happens to their lights.
"In general, the results were very good, the flicker levels were quite low," said Joseph MacEnri from ESB International who assessed SeaGen.
"Overall this device behaves like a modern, well-behaved wind turbine."

While the report paints a positive future for tidal power, a critical element is money.
In the past month ,the EU has announced funding in the region of £30m for two UK tidal projects.
Investors in tidal technology are currently rewarded with a payment of £40 per megawatt hour for energy generated from renewables, but this scheme will end in 2017.
According to Prof Bahaj, this could have serious implications for the nascent industry.
"It depends on the subsidy. Without it, it wouldn't stack up financially."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20983645

Posted: 01-03-2013 08:38 Post subject:

Scottish and English marine energy parks join forces

Marine energy parks in the north of Scotland and south west England are to work together to develop the UK's wave and tidal industry.
The agreement between the Pentland Firth and Orkney Waters and South West parks was described as a "milestone".

The two will still focus on attracting investment to their own geographical areas.
However, the agreement encourages the parks to exchange knowledge and best practice.

The Scottish government has also announced it will provide £4.1m to boost research at Orkney's European Marine Energy Centre.
Its marine parks agreement will be formally signed at Renewable UK Wave and Tidal Conference in London and witnessed by UK climate change minister Greg Baker and Scottish energy minister Fergus Ewing.
The two ministers have welcomed the agreement.
Development agency Highlands and Islands Enterprise described it as a "milestone agreement".

The Wave Hub, an electric "socket" for testing wave energy machines off the north Cornwall coast, has been unused since it was installed on the seabed in 2010, but managers say the first device is expected to be connected this year.
Wave Hub general manager Claire Gibson said: "This agreement sends a clear and positive message to the industry that the UK is serious about accelerating commercial development of the marine energy sector."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-21613725

Posted: 09-06-2013 08:04 Post subject:

Britain's tides could become an energy goldmine
Harnessing the power of the sea might provide a quarter of Britain's domestic needs
By Geoffrey Lean
7:38PM BST 07 Jun 2013

You could call it lunar power, and certainly it’s long been eclipsed by the sun and wind for renewable energy. Yet, after nearly 90 years of frustration, the time of tide – of which Britain has the greatest resources of any country on earth – might finally be about to arrive, and by an unexpected route.

On Monday, a House of Commons select committee will produce yet another report on proposals for a tidal barrage across the Severn estuary that could generate 5 per cent of the country’s electricity. But it’s just possible that this much-touted solution – which has been unsuccessfully revived more than a dozen times since first proposed in 1925 – will be pipped to the post by a little-publicised scheme for a chain of lagoons around the estuary which, its promoters say, will produce more energy at about half the cost.

Overwhelmingly powered by the moon, tides rise and fall with metronomic predictability – a rare and invaluable attribute for a renewable source. The Severn has the second greatest tidal range in the world, after Canada’s Bay of Fundy, as Atlantic sea water accelerates on meeting the continental shelf, pushing a huge volume into a relatively shallow pool.

Other exceptional sites stud our coasts – including Liverpool and Morecambe Bays, the Solway Firth and the Wash – most of them conveniently close to towns and cities that can use the power. Indeed, the UK has half the tidal power resources of the whole of Europe.

The Commons Energy and Climate Change Committee will assess the latest barrage scheme, an 11-mile dam, containing 1,026 underwater turbines, stretching from Lavernock Point, near Cardiff, to Brean, near Weston-super-Mare. It is designed to have the capacity of more than three nuclear power stations, or more than 3,000 wind turbines, and to save the emission of 7.1 million tons of carbon dioxide a year.

But it is expensive, at £25 billion and, at best, would not be fully functioning until 2025. The Port of Bristol fears ruin, because it will obstruct ships and make the water shallower. It will disrupt migration routes to a quarter of Britain’s salmon habitats – says the RSPB – and could seriously affect 96 internationally protected sites for birds, largely by altering water levels. Indeed, it would have to get round an EU directive, a lengthy process even if it succeeded.

Its promoters – who include the former Labour minister Peter Hain – say that it is nevertheless the only way “to harness the full power of the Severn”. Mark Shorrock begs to differ. A 43 year-old entrepreneur – who worked in films before turning to building “out of sight” wind farms and solar installations in Britain and Spain – he has invested £2 million of his own money in investigating tidal lagoons and will apply for planning permission for the first of its kind in the world, in Swansea Bay this autumn.

Plans for lagoons have been kicking around for years, but Shorrock applied a businessman’s rigour, spending the past two years “throwing darts at the project and seeing if we can kill it”. Failing to do so, he teamed up with major companies such as Atkins, Costain, marine engineers Van Oord and turbine makers Alstom and Voith, and says he can produce more power than the barrage from a chain of six lagoons round the estuary for a comparatively modest £13.5 billion.

He also reckons that he could get half of them going in the Severn, and add two at Fleetwood and Colwyn Bay, to exceed the barrage’s planned output by 2023, two years before its completion. In all, he says, lagoons could provide a quarter of Britain’s domestic power.

Enclosed by breakwaters, stretching like giant harbour walls out from the coast, they come with turbines to generate power as the tides flow in and out.
Since they do not block the estuary, they do not harm ports, change migration routes or do much to affect bird habitat.
And whereas the barrage is a one-off project, building successive lagoons would make it possible to improve designs and lower costs – and the technology could be exported to similar sites around the world, creating a new British industry.

On Monday, he will start selling 12,500 shares in his company to local people, and has already held 240 meetings with residents and interest groups around Swansea – a sharp contrast to the attitude of most of the wind industry. And he plans to turn the lagoons into popular centres for triathlons and water sports.

It is a longish shot, but ministers who believe that the barrage’s figures still “aren’t in the place they would need to be” are increasingly open to “affordable” lagoons. They could yet turn out to catch the tide.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/energy/10106187/Britains-tides-could-become-an-energy-goldmine.html

This idea sounds very promising. It's cheaper and quicker, and avoids many environmental and commercial objections. It avoids the all-or-nothing frightful expense of a complete barrage. If the first lagoon works as expected, it would be easier to finance further ones. yeay

Posted: 10-06-2013 07:46 Post subject:

Posted: 13-06-2013 08:55 Post subject:

Penryn offshore drilling firm wins Wave Hub contract
12:08pm Wednesday 12th June 2013 in News .

A Penryn firm and a Porthtowan based marine contractor have won an international contract to work on a multi-million pound project to develop a floating wind turbine at Wave Hub, the offshore renewable energy test facility.

The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) confirmed earlier this year that Wave Hub had been chosen as its preferred location to develop, build and test a floating offshore wind turbine to investigate whether floating windfarms could play a cost-effective role in meeting the UK’s energy needs.
Now offshore drilling specialists LDD – has been chosen as one of two lead contractors.

ETI have confirmed that LDD and marine contractor and vessel owner Keynvor MorLift Ltd (KML) have won the contract to carry out studies for anchoring and subsea installation works for the turbine.

Wave Hub, which is a grid-connected offshore renewable energy test facility 10 miles off the north coast of Cornwall near Hayle, could host the project as early as 2015, and it would remain in place for between eight and 10 years.

etc...

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/10479170.Penryn_offshore_drilling_firm_wins_Wave_Hub_contract/?ref=mr

Posted: 18-06-2013 08:30 Post subject:

Truro engineering firm's 'innovation of the year' win
7:00am Tuesday 18th June 2013 in Falmouth/Penryn .

The world’s smallest ground source heat pump, manufactured in Cornwall by Truro-based Kensa Engineering, is set to transform the adoption of renewable heat technology in the UK, following its acknowledgement by industry as the ‘Product Innovation of the Year’ at the National Heat Pump Awards.

Kensa Engineering, established in 1999, designs and manufactures ground source heat pumps from its premises on the former Mount Wellington Mine site in Bissoe. Kensa’s latest innovation is the smallest and quietest ground source heat pump ever invented, and offers a compelling alternative to traditional gas boiler installations. The Shoebox Heat Pump, so-named due to its diminutive size and design, extracts and condenses heat energy stored in the ground to provide heating and hot water to apartments and smaller new build properties, all from its location in the property’s under-sink kitchen cabinet.

Renewable heat technologies are becoming increasingly popular, in part helped by the Government’s drive to increase their installation through grant schemes such as the Renewable Heat Premium Payment scheme (RHPP), and the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI). Uniquely, the Shoebox Heat Pump allows domestic installations to benefit from the higher RHI tariff intended for commercial applications, due to its ability to create a ‘communal’ system.

As a Cornish manufacturer, recently confirmed as the UK’s leading manufacturer and supplier of ground source heat pumps, Kensa Engineering is helping to support the county’s ambitious sustainable future plans.

Simon Lomax, Managing Director of Kensa Engineering comments: “Unlike air source heat pumps which must secure permitted development rights or planning permission, ground source heat pumps can be routinely installed. They also deliver the lowest possible running costs of any renewable heating system.”

According to Stephanie Rees, Marketing Manager: “Kensa is delighted to win this award. Awards can play a significant part in elevating our reputation and market presence, and as the only UK manufacturer and current market leader of ground source heat pumps, we hope to continue to use these accolades to promote interest in our products.”

The Shoebox was announced the winner of its category at the National Heat Pump Awards held in the International Conference Centre in Birmingham on the 16th May 2013.

http://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/fpfalmouth/10485990.Truro_engineering_firm_s__innovation_of_the_year__win/

Videos:
http://shoebox.kensaengineering.com/

Posted: 08-07-2013 19:34 Post subject:

Rust promises hydrogen power boost
By Simon Redfern, BBC News

Rust could help boost the efficiency of hydrogen production from sunlight - a potentially green source of energy.
Tiny (nano-sized) particles of haematite (crystalline iron oxide, or rust) have been shown to split water into hydrogen and oxygen in the presence of solar energy.
The result could bring the goal of generating cheap hydrogen from sunlight and water a step closer to reality.
Details are published in the journal Nature Materials.

Researchers from Switzerland, the US and Israel identified what they termed "champion nanoparticles" of haematite, which are a few billionths of a metre in size.
Bubbles of hydrogen gas appear spontaneously when the tiny grains of haematite are put into water under sunlight as part of a photoelectrochemical cell (PEC).

The nanostructures look like miniscule cauliflowers, and they are grown as a layer on top of an electrode.
The key to the improvement lies in understanding how electrons inside the haematite crystals interact with the edges of grains within these "champions"

Where the particle is correctly oriented and contains no grain boundaries, electrons pass along efficiently.
This allows water splitting to take place that leads to the capture of about 15% of the energy in the incident sunlight - that which falls on a set area for a set length of time. This energy can then be stored in the form of hydrogen.

Identifying the champion nanoparticles allowed Scott Warren and Michael Graetzel from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, to master the methods for increasing the effectiveness of their prototype cell.

Iron oxide is cheap, and the electrodes used to create abundant, environmentally-friendly hydrogen from water in this photochemical method should be inexpensive and relatively efficient.
The hydrogen made from water and sunlight in this way could then be stored, transported, and sold on for subsequent energy needs in fuel cells or simply by burning.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-23226798

Posted: 06-09-2013 14:40 Post subject:

Cornwall Wave Hub in energy machine plan

A wave energy developer says it is hoping to connect a device to the Wave Hub testing site in Cornwall.
The device, called the Lifesaver because of its lifebuoy shape, could join the site off Hayle late next year, engineering firm Fred Olsen said.
The 16m-wide generator drives a turbine via a device like a yo-yo inside.

The £42m Wave Hub, a seabed-mounted electrical "socket" for testing wave energy machines, has been unused since it was installed off Hayle in 2010.
Fred Olsen project manager Tore Gulli said: "We are hoping to be at Wave Hub for late next year or early-2015.
"Wave Hub is exactly what we as developers need on our way to commercial operations."

As well as the Lifesaver, Irish firm Ocean Energy Ltd (OEL) is expected to deploy a generator at the hub later this year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cornwall-23979704

Posted: 13-09-2013 08:27 Post subject:

Wave power generator bags Dyson award
By Mark Ward, Technology correspondent, BBC News

A wave power generator that can harvest energy no matter which way the sea is running has won the UK round of James Dyson's engineering award.
The Renewable Wave Power generator seeks to overcome the limitations of some current tidal power technologies.
These work best when struck by waves travelling in one direction and are less efficient in more turbulent seas.
The generator uses loosely coupled pistons to reap power from tidal waters that flow unpredictably.

The win means that Sam Etherington, who created the generator, gets £2,000 to create a bigger prototype that will undergo tests in water tanks to prove its efficacy.
The engineering graduate studied mechanical design at Brunel University in London, and now lives in the Lake District.
Mr Etherington said some of the inspiration for the design came when he was kite surfing off the coast of Cumbria in seas where waves rarely travelled in a predictable fashion.

To harness the energy that abounds in such restless waters, Mr Etherington came up with a design that uses a long chain of loosely linked enclosed pistons. Energy is generated as the chain of generators flexes in the peaks and troughs of each wave.
"The ocean is a harsh and unpredictable environment," said Mr Etherington. "It is better to work with the forces than to repel them."

He added that the hard part of the development work was finding ways to replicate the chaotic seas that the generator can make best use of. Data taken from buoys moored in the Orkney Islands was used to make waves in a water tank at Lancaster University and prove the prototypes could generate power in such conditions.

Dr David Forehand from the Institute for Energy Systems at Edinburgh said existing tidal and wave power systems used different methods to cope with the ways water can move.

Systems sited in shallow waters benefitted from the fact that waves "refract" as they approached the shore, he said. This meant the wave crests tended to line up parallel to the shore before they break, making it straightforward to harvest some of their energy.
By contrast deeper water systems, such as the Pelamis pipe generators, tended to be "loosely moored" so they can swing into the direction of dominant waves.

He added that seas can sometimes have a number of dominant wave directions and Mr Etherington's multi-axis device might be good for such situations.

"The real test for a device is its cost of energy," Dr Forehand, adding that the complexity of the multi-axis device and its ability to withstand large seas might make it an expensive way to generate power.

...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24070071

A poorly written article, which seems to confuse tidal power with wave power.

And this new design seems complex, and could prove expensive to build and maintain. Compare it with the Lifesaver (previous post), which is far more compact and also seems to work in any wave directions.

Posted: 16-09-2013 20:31 Post subject:

Pentland Firth tidal turbine project given consent

Work is to begin on the largest tidal turbine energy project in Europe after the Scottish government approved it.
MeyGen is to install the tidal array in stages in the Pentland Firth, between Orkney and the Scottish mainland.

It will begin with a 9MW demonstration project of up to six turbines, with construction expected to take place on a phased basis until 2020.
When fully operational, the 86MW array could generate enough electricity to power the equivalent of 42,000 homes.
That is the equivalent of 40% of homes in the Highlands, the Scottish government said.

MeyGen hopes a second phase would eventually see up to 400 submerged turbines at the site, generating some 398MW.
It will be the first commercial deployment of tidal turbines in Scottish waters.

Scottish-registered company MeyGen is a joint venture between investment bank Morgan Stanley, independent power generator International Power and tidal technology provider Atlantis Resources Corporation.
Its tidal energy project is located in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth off the north coast of Caithness.
The firm has agreed a 25-year lease with the Crown Estate for an area encompassing about 1.4 square miles (3.5 square kilometres) of fast flowing water between the island of Stroma and the north easterly tip of the Scottish mainland.

Its AR1000 turbine is claimed to be the world's most powerful single-rotor tidal device.
Each of the devices, which stand 22.5m (73ft) tall, weigh 1,500 tonnes and have a rotor diameter of 18m (59ft), could generate up to 1MW of power.

Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing said: "Today we have granted consent to MeyGen Limited to develop the largest tidal turbine array in Europe and the first commercial project off these shores.
"This is a major step forward for Scotland's marine renewable energy industry.
"This exciting development in the waters around Orkney is just the first phase for a site that could eventually yield up to 398MW."

Speaking before the Scottish Renewables Marine Conference got under way in Inverness, Mr Ewing also announced that developers Aquamarine Power Limited and Pelamis Wave Power are to share a slice of a £13m wave "first array" support programme.
The award is part of the Scottish government's Marine Renewables Commercialisation Fund.
Mr Ewing said the tide was turning for the wave sector.

He added: "We must tackle climate change. We need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels through better and more efficient uses of energy.
"Marine energy - a home-grown technology with huge potential - is part of the solution."

Michael Rieley, policy manager for industry body Scottish Renewables, said: "Scotland has just been given another reason to be proud of its burgeoning marine energy industry now that Europe's largest tidal energy project will be calling Scotland home.
"This is by far one of the most important milestones for the tidal energy sector to meet.

"This latest announcement to come from the marine industry is further proof that all the hard work to win the global energy race is paying off. Not only will new projects like this mean a step further towards meeting our renewable energy targets, but it will also lead to further jobs being created, increased investment, and a significant contribution towards tackling climate change."

The announcement was also welcomed by environmental group WWF Scotland.
Director Lang Banks said: "This is a significant announcement and a major boost for the marine renewable industry in Scotland.
"However, as there is little point in generating huge amounts of marine renewable energy on Scotland's islands if it cannot also be got to the mainland, we now need UK and Scottish ministers to find a way forward that enables us to harness the full potential of this clean energy source.
"Alongside energy saving measures, marine renewables will have a critical role to play in helping Scotland reduce climate emissions as we phase out polluting fossil fuels and nuclear power.
"With careful planning we can harness Scotland's huge wave and tidal energy to help cut our climate emissions, while safeguarding the nation's tremendous marine environment."

The Carbon Trust has estimated that wave and tidal resources could provide 20% of the UK's electricity if fully developed.
And the Scottish government believes the country's technological expertise in marine energy makes it extremely well placed to capitalise on domestic and overseas markets.

Scotland has been described as a Saudi Arabia of renewable energy potential, but developing power from offshore tidal streams is fraught with difficulty.
The harsh environment and extreme weather conditions make building, deploying and managing a fleet of tidal machines a treacherous challenge, as the BBC discovered when reporting on the emerging industry last year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-24100811