Harnessing wave and tidal energy
An £8 million project that will develop and validate a series of models capable of accurately estimating the energy yield of major wave and tidal stream energy has been approved by the Energy Technologies Institute.
Performance Assessment of Wave and Tidal Array Systems (PerAWaT), a project led by Garrad Hassan, and including EDF Energy, EON, the University of Edinburgh, the University of Oxford, Queen’s University Belfast and the University of Manchester will develop a series of models to predict the performance of wave and tidal stream generator arrays.
Click through to press release for more information
A project which could considerably reduce the cost of cabling from offshore wave and tidal farms to the shore has been announced by the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI).
This 18 month project, costing £1.1m and led by MacArtney, will develop an 11kV wet-mate connector, which will be tested and demonstrated under workshop and real-sea conditions.
The connectors enable two power cables to be linked together. Currently, marine device developers either use dry-mate connectors, which have to be lifted out of the water and connected on a barge, or they use a 6.6kV wet-mate connector which is not a high enough voltage rating for efficient transmission of maximum outputs from devices back to shore.
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As an island nation, looking to the sea as a source of renewable energy is a natural option. Although it’s estimated that marine energy could supply up to 2GW of UK electricity demand by 2020 and significantly more than this by 2050, progress towards commercial devices has been slower than predicted.
The ETI aims to bring together UK and international expertise to accelerate the development of marine technology into projects that have the potential for rapid commercial deployment.
The Marine Programme
In December 2007, the Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) announced plans for one of the ETI’s first-ever Technology Programmes.
Expressions of Interest (EoIs) were invited to create a range of projects. Over 130 EoIs were received.
Marine: Current status
The request for Expressions of Interest in this Programme is currently closed.
The ETI may announce another Call in this area. Details of the timing and subjects of future Technology Programmes please see our Technology Strategy page.
Projects developed as a result of this call are currently in contract negotiation.
They will be announced publically and further information will be posted here.
Please note that the ETI will not be issuing a Request for Proposals in Marine as mentioned in the press recently.
Marine: Goals
- Increase deployment to 2GW by 2020 and towards 30GW by 2050.
- Reduce electricity costs to be competitive with established renewables by 2020 and with conventional generation by 2050.
- Increase unit availability (not including weather risks) to 90% by 2020 and 99% by 2050.
Marine: Focus Areas
- Design, development and testing of prototypes under relevant conditions ready for testing, perhaps at EMEC, Wave Hub or NaREC.
- Design development and testing of key sub-systems (including foundations and/or moorings systems) and component technologies optimised for the marine renewable sector.
- Studies to assess practical device and array performance.
- Studies to understand positive and negative environmental impacts, including sediment transfer.
The intention is to develop devices to a stage where they could benefit from, for example, the BERR Renewables Deployment Fund, or be ready for commercial prototyping by a relevant manufacturer. The ETI plans to build on existing work such as the EPSRC Supergen consortium, and projects supported by the Technology Strategy Board.