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Page added on June 18, 2012
Largest tidal array in the world to be built in Scotland
Western Scotland will see the world’s largest tidal array constructed off the coast, as the first large-scale rollout of tidal energy generation.
A trial with one 30m turbine, the HS1000, anchored to the ocean floor in a fast-flowing channel near the Orkney Islands, raised one megawatt of electricity — enough to power around 500 homes. Now, Scottish Power is planning on building two farms of turbines off the Scottish coast.
The project at the Sound of Islay should hopefully generate 10MW, and then the later project off Duncansby Head (the most northeasterly point of Scotland) should generate around 95MW. While individual turbines have been trialled across the world, the arrays will be the largest of their kind, with local communities having their power provided by renewable tidal sources.
The turbines — built by Andritz Hydro Hammerfest, a Norwegian firm — represent a tricky engineering challenge. Considerations for wild plants and fish means that the blades can’t move too fast, and the turbines must be located in areas where there is a reliably fast current travelling at at least 2.5m/s (such as the Sound of Islay, a narrow passage between the Scottish mainland and the island of Jura).
Once a suitable location has been identified, a giant steel frame is lowered to the seabed and secured. The turbines are between 40 to 100 metres below the surface of the sea, so theoretically pose no danger to shipping. The turbines are designed to turn in both directions to generate power, giving a constant supply of electricity.
Some have estimated that around ten percent of the UK’s total energy needs could be met with tidal arrays — and the long-dreamed-of Severn Barrage alone could meet five percent of UK demand if numerous engineering difficulties are overcome.
As with many renewable energy technologies, the initial costs can be prohibitive. Scottish Power estimates the cost of the turbine farm to be around £70 million, which compares poorly to existing fossil fuel and nuclear power plants. For example, in 2009 Scottish Power announced plans for a new gas-fired power station in Kent, which will cost £500 million but produce 1,000 megawatts of electrical energy compared to the 10 of the undersea turbine — making each megawatt 14 times as expensive to produce.
6 Comments on "Largest tidal array in the world to be built in Scotland"
BillT on Mon, 18th Jun 2012 1:55 pm
Dreamers. I wonder how long they will last? 10 years? Less? Will they collect trash on their blades? At what point will kelp and other sea plants clog them up? Interesting to watch what happens.
Bob Owens on Mon, 18th Jun 2012 3:16 pm
There are many experiments we will have to try. This is one of them. The trick is to give it up and move on if it doesn’t work well enough.
Norm on Tue, 19th Jun 2012 12:15 am
Yeah, covered with barnacles and seaweed after 10 yrs and they forget they are down there. But some lucky corporate welfare schmuck will have already cashed all the checks for the ‘research’.
Wait ’til some ship drops anchor and drags the anchor thru the field of generators. Then a speeding submarine will take out whats left.
A clown show, fueled by corporate welfare. Pathetic. Hamsters on electric gerbil wheels would do better.
Kenz300 on Wed, 20th Jun 2012 2:30 pm
Wind, solar, wave energy and geothermal are the future. It is time to transition to safe, clean alternative energy sources.
Max Reid on Wed, 20th Jun 2012 9:19 pm
Great experiment. So far, only large dams generated power from Water, now this Wave mills will open up a vast front generating power from Oceans, Seas, Lakes & Rivers.
I expect the energy from this source to be included in Wind energy until it becomes big enough to have a separate section for itself.
14 times is the installation cost and not the production cost of electricity.
Tides are free, but you have to pay for natural gas. The natgas in Europe is 4 times more expensive than in USA.
Also in the years to come, natgas prices may increase along with oil prices, but these wind turbines will go down just like the land based turbines.
Harquebus on Thu, 21st Jun 2012 6:07 am
As energy prices keep rising, the cost of manufacturing these inefficient device will increase further the price of energy.
It is called the law of diminishing returns.