Two marine energy companies – Aquamarine Power and Thames Tidal Ltd – made strides over the course of this week to further the already expanding field of tidal energy in the UK by potentially allowing clean energy to be supplied to both London and the Western Isles.
Thames Tidal Limited, a joint venture of
tidal technology developer
Nautricity and global developer and energy project financer
Energy Invest Group, will be installing a tidal turbine alongside the HQS WELLINGTON, a formal Royal Navy ship docked in the Thames River near the centre of London. If it proves to be successful and the project is able to grow to include more turbines, it could have a total generating capacity of 50 megawatts (MW).
Aquamarine Power plans to install turbines that will capture 40 MW of wave energy off the west coast of
Lewis once planning consents from Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Government regulator Marine Scotland are finalised.
In all, the two projects could potentially power around 73,000 homes – 35,000 from the Thames Tidal project and 38,000 from the Aquamarine Power project.
Innovative tidal device
Thames Tidal will be trialing Nautricity’s new turbine
design, the CoRMat, over a two-month period.
Nautricity confirmed last week that it would be starting pre-commercial testing of its innovative device in September. The device is b
ased on a rotor system and is suitable for deployment at a wide range of depths. It is smaller and will cause less damage to the riverbed than traditional designs and benefits from much lower capital costs than first-generation tidal devices.
If the test-run of the CoRMat in the Thames is successful, Thames Tidal said hundreds will be placed along the river from Westminster to Margate, the largest of which will generate up to 500 kilowatts.
"We are delighted to have instigated this initiative and see it as the first in demonstrating the efficacy of this world beating
technology in the centre of London that will have application nationwide and, indeed, globally," Brian Basham, chairman of EIG, said.
Special permission to conduct the test run of the devices was obtained from the Port of London Authority in order to give stakeholders a feel for the technology.
"The demonstration project gives us a real opportunity to demonstrate that tidal electricity facilities using Nautricity’s tidal turbines can be good neighbours with existing river users while making a significant contribution to our national carbon reduction goals," Cameron Johnstone, ceo of Nautricity, said.
Aquamarine Power
After meetings with community members, stakeholders and officials, Aquamarine managed to secure leases from seabed owner the Crown Estate in order to begin environmental and feasibility studies for its new Oyster turbines.
During the course of the year, the company will meticulously monitor the environments surrounding its two leases to identify the most appropriate 30 MW site within the area for the turbines.
Currently, the company has one 10 MW demonstration lease between Siadar and Fivepenny and one 30 MW lease granted under the Crown Estate’s recent 'Saltire Prize’ leasing round, which is between Bágh Dhail Beag and Tráigh Shanndaigh.
The project could potentially install 40 Oyster nearshore devices across both locations, covering a stretch of coast measuring about two kilometres.
Like this story? Please subscribe to our free weekly e-newsletter at the top of the page for more content like this.
Related content:
