Weekly Intelligence Brief
Intelligence Brief 23 June - 7 July
7 July 2010
The tidal sector had some very promising news over the past two weeks. Companies and institutions included in this news round-up include: Crown Estate, Pentland Firth project, Scottish Government, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Orkney Islands Council, Highland Council, Irving Oil, Bay of Fundy Project, Ocean Renewable Power Company, OpenHydro, British-Irish Council, Welsh Assembly Government, Marine Energy Pembrokeshire Working Group, Energy Island Programme, Aquamarine Power, European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC), SSE Renewables, Fugro, JASCO Applied Sciences, Voith Hydro,RWE Innogy, and Voith Hydro Ocean Current Technologies
Intelligence Brief 23 June - 7 July
Crown Estate selects 4 to tender for Inner sound project
The UK's Crown Estate has invited four companies to tender for a tidal energy project at the Inner Sound off the coast of northern Scotland.
The news follows the Crown´s 28 May 2010 deadline for expressions of interest and pre-qualification for the tidal energy project.
The Inner Sound lies within the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters strategic area, between Caithness on the Scottish mainland and the island of Stroma.
As one of the most energetic tidal areas in the Pentland Firth, it has potential for a significant commercial project of 200 MW or more installed capacity.
The re-tendering process will now proceed to the second phase, which involves companies submitting detailed tenders, said a Crown Estate statement.
“Should a successful bidder emerge from the process, we would plan to award an agreement for lease in the autumn.”
Commenting on the announcement, Rob Hastings, director of the marine estate at The Crown Estate said: “We are pleased to see continuing interest in tidal energy development in the Inner Sound.
“On top of the potential 1,200 MW of wave and tidal energy projects in the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters announced earlier this year, a project at the Inner Sound could further advance the industry.”
“As owners of the UK seabed out to the 12-nautical mile territorial limit and around half of the foreshore, we are continuing to work closely with its partners, the Scottish Government, Highlands & Islands Enterprise, Orkney Islands Council and the Highland Council, to maximise benefits to the local area and the rest of Scotland from investments in offshore renewables.
“This includes the Pentland Firth and Orkney waters delivery group, recently set up by the Scottish Government in partnership with ourselves to tackle strategic issues facing developments,” The Crown Estate concluded.
Irving Oil kills Bay of Fundy tidal power plans; Ocean Renewable Energy exec dir. calms fears
Irving Oil Ltd.'s sudden decision to abandon its New Brunswick tidal power initiative has sparked interest by a Maine company that is conducting its own research in the area, according to a CBC News report.
The Canadian news report said that Irving Oil had exclusive access from the New Brunswick government to test tidal power possibilities on 11 Crown land sites in the Bay of Fundy, which it walked away from recently.
“Provincial Energy Minister Jack Keir said last week he didn't know why the company halted its efforts, but said tidal power technology is not yet commercially viable.”
The report pointed out that John Ferland, the vice-president of project development for Ocean Renewable Power Company in Maine, who has been testing the potential of tidal power in the Bay of Fundy since 2007, disagreed with Keir´s statements.
Ferland said the company plans to have a commercial pilot underway by next fall near Eastport, Maine.
"It would probably be the first grid-connected tidal energy project in the United States," Ferland said in the report.
The initial five-megawatt pilot is expected to generate enough electricity to power every home and business in the Eastport area.
Then, the company hopes to expand the project to supply energy to all of Downeast Maine.
Ferland said in the report that tidal energy could become commercially viable by 2015.
The Maine company was testing tidal power possibilities not far from Irving Oil in the Bay of Fundy.
Ferland said he was surprised to hear that Irving Oil had backed away from the project.
"We've always viewed New Brunswick as having tidal energy development opportunity and we continue to do so," he said.
"With Irving having made this decision, it kind of changes the playing field a little bit, so we would now seek to gather information about what that means."
The New Brunswick government plans to issue another request for proposals for the 11 Crown land sites available for testing in the bay.
A Canadaeast letter to the editor said that when the news broke that the pioneer OpenHydro tidal energy generator deployed by Nova Scotia Power would be taken out to be inspected; some reports suggested that the prospect of using tidal energy was in danger.
“Fact is,” wrote Chris Campbell, Executive Director of Ocean Renewable Energy Group, “the entire effort planned for Minas Passage has been to test, experience, modify and re-test the first generation of tidal generators.”
“These are costly experiments, but things are still moving ahead, with Fundy Ocean Research Centre for Energy expecting to install cables to connect this phase and early scale-up to small arrays of generators.
“So this isn't bad news, it's one of the steps we all expect as this young sector takes its first steps.
Campbell continued: “The most recent news that Fort Reliance (Irving Oil) wasn't continuing its research into tidal opportunities in New Brunswick is an unfortunate loss of one of our larger industrial members.
“But they are not the only company interested in New Brunswick and interest would certainly take off should the province advance a feed-in-tariff to match Nova Scotia.
“Continuing the current work is critical if the Maritimes is to contribute part of the 15,000MW of wave, tidal and in-stream energy needed to meet Canada's clean electricity requirements by 2050.
“Even apparent setbacks are the experience needed to move on the opportunity. Kudos to NSP and Open Hydro for being the pioneers they are.
“Ocean energy isn't an instant solution, but it will be an important part of the solution, because of the work being done now in Atlantic Canada,” Campbell concluded in his letter.
Wales offers ideal marine market environment
Wales offers the perfect conditions for the emerging marine energy industry, according to Welsh environment minister, Jane Davidson.
The minister spoke ahead of the British-Irish Council summit which was held in Guernsey on June 24-25.
Reports conclude that the Council wants to focus on marine renewables and in particular opportunities for collaboration and joint working between the British-Irish Council membership to enable the marine sector to take off.
The environment minister said: "Wales really does have a lot to offer on marine renewables.
"Our energy policy statement, ‘A Low Carbon Revolution', estimates that Wales has the potential to produce more than twice as much energy as it currently uses through wholly renewable sources by 2025, with the largest proportion of this energy coming from marine generated electricity.
"Our geographical position means that we are perfectly placed for an emerging marine energy industry as we have some of the best tidal stream resource in the UK, in terms of accessibility and shelter.
"I am committed to exploiting this tremendous resource in order to mitigate the effects of climate change and maximise the potential for green jobs and a green economy."
Apart from the huge tidal energy resource in the Severn Estuary, the Welsh Assembly Government believes that the main areas of exploitable wave resource in Wales exists off the coast of Pembrokeshire, whilst the main areas for tidal stream are off the North and West coast of Anglesey, the West coast of Pembrokeshire and the Western arm of the Llyn Peninsula.
The Assembly group will be speaking with stakeholders in conjunction with its Marine Energy Pembrokeshire Working Group and the Energy Island Programme.
Aquamarine Power raises significant funding
Aquamarine Power, a wave energy developer, has raised £6m of funding for developing its Oyster wave power device, Oyster 2 800 kW, which will be built in Scotland later this year.
Oyster 2, which consists of three flaps linked to a single onshore 2.4 MW hydro-electric turbine, will be launched at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney next summer.
The funding will be used towards its procurement programme and provide general working capital.
SSE Renewables alongside Aquamarine have earned exclusive rights to develop the 200 MW Brough Head wave farm in the Crown Estate leasing round for the Pentland Firth and the Orkneys.
Martin McAdam, CEO of Aquamarine Power, said: “The additional fundraising enables us to progress to the next phase – the manufacture and installation of Oyster 2 and we will announce the award of these contracts shortly.”
Fugro sets up underwater noise consultancy across marine sectors
Fugro, a provider metocean services, has teamed up with underwater acoustics company JASCO Applied Sciences to provide measurement of underwater noise and allied consultancy.
The measurement of underwater noise, created during construction and operation of wind farms and tidal turbines, is an important component of any EIA and is vital to ensure the safety and longevity of marine wildlife and ensure compliance with licensing requirements.
The issue of underwater noise is becoming an increasingly important indicator in the UK Government’s legislated drive towards achieving ‘Good Environmental Status’, following the publication of the European Marine Strategy Framework Directive.
“This new partnership brings a number of key advantages to the marine renewable energy industry and can be used by the wind, wave and tidal sectors,” said Mark Calverley, Consultancy Director of Fugros GEOS.
“Both organisations already have established track records within these sectors. By combining our extensive experience and expertise in technical system deployment, we are able to introduce cost-efficiencies, by offering a ‘one-stop’ solution.”
As a group, Fugro has a global offshore vessel capability, and the Fugro Renewables’ service to the marine renewable energy industry includes desktop and feasibility studies, site investigations, foundation design and engineering, metocean monitoring, and marine construction support.
“This new partnership brings a number of key advantages to the marine renewable energy industry and can be used by the wind, wave and tidal sectors,” said Mark Calverley, Consultancy Director of Fugro GEOS.
“Both organisations already have established track records within these sectors. By combining our extensive experience and expertise in technical system deployment, we are able to introduce cost-efficiencies, by offering a ‘one-stop’ solution.”
As Robin Burns, Director of JASCO Applied Sciences (UK) explains: “JASCO has worked with several legislators around the world to support development of appropriate regulatory guidelines for addressing noise-related concerns. At the same time, we can assist renewable energy developers through provision of empirical assessments of their projects to ensure compliance with all regulatory requirements relating to underwater noise.”
“Working together we can deliver cost-effective solutions to requirements for underwater noise measurement in all UK sea areas,” said Mark Calverley.
“We can draw on the depth of experience, breadth of application and technical sophistication of JASCO’s industry-leading 3D acoustic modelling and measurement capability and extensive global experience.
The joint approach claims it will enable it to conduct pre-piling acoustic impact assessment including use of bubble-curtain mitigation; construction phase calibrated noise level measurements; and post construction acoustic recording that not only assesses overall noise contribution from the operational wind or tidal scheme, but may support studies to confirm the return of pre-existing mammals and fish stocks.
Voith and RWE to test tidal current turbine in Orkney
Voith Hydro and RWE Innogy will jointly install a 1 MW marine tidal current turbine at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) in Orkney through the joint venture (JV) company Voith Hydro Ocean Current Technologies.The tidal turbine is due to start its two-year trial operation at EMEC in 2011. The installation of the foundation will start before the end of this year.
The tidal turbine is designed to feed close to 1800 MWh of electricity into the grid per year.
The total investment is approx. £11.8 million and the tidal power project is supported by the British Government which is providing £1.7 million through the Carbon Trust’s Marine Renewables Proving Fund.
Prof. Fritz Vahrenholt, RWE Innogy CEO said: "We are testing a marine tidal current prototype for the first time on an industrial scale off the Scottish coast.
“The experience gathered here in terms of technology and economic efficiency will provide us with important information for our future growth in this sector.
“Following successful tests, we intend to install further marine tidal current power plants with an installed capacity of up to 100 MW mainly off the British coasts by 2020."
The tidal current turbines developed by Voith Hydro Ocean Current Technologies are installed completely under water and are anchored to the seabed.
The tidal turbines have direct drive and there is no need to adjust the rotor blade angle. The turbines use a permanent magnet generator and to avoid costly sealing solutions, the flow of sea water is deliberately channelled through the turbine, where it serves as a lubricant for the bearings, the companies say.
A first tidal turbine of this type with a capacity of 110 kW is currently being installed by Voith Hydro Ocean Current Technologies on the South Korean coast.
Don't keep company developments and insights to yourself, pass on the news to editor@tidaltoday.com
