Executive Viewpoint

Franco Patricolo, Capita Symonds: “Industry needs new generation of low head pump turbines”

4 August 2010

Franco Patricolo of consultancy Capita Symonds offers some finer points to the objectives of the £150m UK Tidal Energy Storage And Release (TESAR) scheme and what he thinks will help generate significant commercial and technological advances.

The purpose of the £150m UK Tidal Energy Storage And Release (TESAR) scheme will be to provide a test bed facility for turbine designers and manufacturers developing a new generation of ‘low head’ turbines while also assessing their impact on the environment.

The project will encourage innovation, inform debate, and enable key decisions to be made about the role of tidal power in providing a low carbon, renewable, secure and predictable source of electricity.

Franco Patricolo of consultancy Capita Symonds, which has gained support from Conwy County Borough Council for a pilot tidal energy scheme at Llanddulas in North Wales, told Tidal Today that news of the pilot got out a bit sooner than expected.

That said, he thought some of the following points that he prepared could perhaps clarify the aims of the project.

The case for a Pilot

• The facility will act as a test facility similar to the wave hub for tidal stream and wave energy – but for tidal range developers.  
• The case for a Pilot scheme has long been argued for by Cllr. Dr Stuart Anderson of Conwy County Borough Council.
• Current tidal range generation technology though regarded as mature (ref. La Rance) does not harness more than 20-30% of the available energy given that it is based on ebb only generation.
• To make significant advances there is a need to develop a new generation of low head pump turbines which are capable of generating on ebb and flood tides as well as high volume low head pumps for pump storage.
• The life span of the test facility depends on the successful deployment of the turbines.
• The legacy of the facility is to provide a harbour as well as a marina which will help to regenerate the local economy.
• As well as the turbine developers needing to innovate – there is equally a strong case for innovation in the design and construction of the civil engineering works.  Current estimates for the construction of impoundment structures for coastal and offshore lagoons are uneconomical.
• Coastal attached tidal impoundments may be necessary in the future to protect cities such as London from rising sea levels.

Timescales

• In order for tidal range schemes to make a any contribution to generating low carbon, renewable and predictable supplies of electricity by 2020 then an accelerated programme of approximately 5 to 6 years is needed.
• Should the new technology prove itself then tidal range schemes are a step closer to being commercially viable.
• At present only wind power is seen as making a viable contribution to renewable sources of electricity.
• Energy mix as well as security of supply are also valid reasons.
• Given the lessons learnt from previous tidal energy studies this is achievable.
• This is dependent on securing funding for the feasibility study.

Number of Devices

• The number of devices will depend on their size and current development status. Some manufacturers have equipment that will require some modification to enable their deployment – with others they are still on the drawing board.
• Ideally three different systems based on vertical and horizontal axis turbines, AC and DC generation systems, high speed and low speed devices to assess their impact on fish passage as well as different configurations of turbines and sluices.
• There is also scope to incorporate devices that extract tidal stream as well as tidal range.