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Page added on September 17, 2013
Europe’s largest tidal power array surges forward
The UK’s fledgling tidal power sector is set to take a major step forward today, as the Scottish government awards planning consent to the Europe’s largest tidal array, located in the Pentland Firth.
Meygen, a group led by Morgan Stanley, International Power, tidal technology provider Atlantis and GDF Suez, is planning to deploy up to 400 tidal turbines in the Inner Sound, which is known as the “crown jewel” of the Pentland Firth for its fast flowing waters.
Today, Scottish Energy Minister Fergus Ewing will confirm planning permission for the first 86MW phase of the project. Meygen is expected to install the tidal array in stages, starting with a 9MW demonstration project of up to six turbines.
The news will make Maygen the first tidal project in the Pentland Firth and the largest tidal power array in Europe to receive planning consent, marking a major boost for the industry.
“This exciting development in the waters around Orkney is just the first phase for a site that could eventually yield up 398MW,” Ewing will say.
He will also announce further support for the wave power industry, confirming that Scottish wave developers Aquamarine Power and Pelamis Wave Power are to share a some of a £13m fund to help commercialise new technolgies.
The news was welcomed by WWF Scotland, which cited figures showing wave and tidal power combined could provide one fifth of the UK’s electricity demand.
“Scotland is well placed to lead in developing the technologies to turn this potential into a reality while create thousands of green jobs at the same time,” said WWF Scotland director Lang Banks, in a statement.
“However, as there is little point in generating huge amounts of marine renewable energy on Scotland’s islands if it cannot also be got to the mainland, we now need UK and Scottish Ministers to find a way forward that enables us to harness the full potential of this clean energy source.”
“With careful planning we can harness Scotland’s huge wave and tidal energy to help cut our climate emissions, while safeguarding the nation’s tremendous marine environment.”
Meanwhile, the UK government has revealed plans to offer wind farm developers a cash incentive to build more turbines on windy Scottish islands.
Energy and Climate Change Minister Ed Davey yesterday proposed to set the strike price for onshore wind farms on Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles at £115 per MW/h, which is £15 MW/h higher than that offered to wind farms in the rest of the UK.
DECC is planning to launch a six-week consultation on the plans this week, with the changes expected to come into effect next summer.
But Ewing expressed surprise at the announcement, maintaining the UK and Scottish governments have yet to reach an agreement on the details of the plans.
“The Scottish Government continues to make the case for proposals that secure a solution for all three island groups,” he said. “I look forward to seeing more details, in particular the extent to which these proposals will deliver an evidenced-based solution for Orkney, Shetland and the Western Isles.”
9 Comments on "Europe’s largest tidal power array surges forward"
Arthur on Tue, 17th Sep 2013 11:31 pm
Funny how they keep talking about ‘reducing emissions’ as the prime motive, as if there is no depletion problem.
bobinget on Wed, 18th Sep 2013 1:37 am
GW is a far larger IMMEDIATE problem then peak oil or gas.
GregT on Wed, 18th Sep 2013 2:10 am
bobinget,
You are exactly correct, and it is our continued use of oil and gas, that has the potential to push GW past the point of no return, for life as we know it on planet Earth. The sixth mass extinction event is already well underway.
We can live without an economy, but we will not survive, without a healthy natural environment.
And for those that keep thinking that we are a century away from the effects of climate change, it’s time to pay attention to the scientific community, and do some research of your own.
BillT on Wed, 18th Sep 2013 3:04 am
Yawn. Get back to me when they have a functioning system in place with operating data to prove their ‘usefulness’. Say in 10 years or so.
This is still in the ‘planning stage’ so that means at least 5 years until implementation, if ever.
Norm on Wed, 18th Sep 2013 4:21 am
Get covered in barnacles. Welfare scam.
Arthur on Wed, 18th Sep 2013 6:26 am
http://www.renewableuk.com/en/renewable-energy/wave-and-tidal/
Currently the UK has 9MW installed. Britain does have 50% of the global offshore wind capacity installed, most of it probably build by Germany, so it is not all talk in the UK.
Arthur on Wed, 18th Sep 2013 1:31 pm
“GW is a far larger IMMEDIATE problem then peak oil or gas.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2415191/Global-cooling-Arctic-ice-caps-grows-60-global-warming-predictions.html
I have GW on hold, in the fridge, to be precise.
BillT on Wed, 18th Sep 2013 3:24 pm
And then there were the unicorns dancing on the new polar ice caps … and the Leprechauns riding them. IPCC is a government source and not to be trusted.
Tidal systems are NOT wind mills…
GregT on Thu, 19th Sep 2013 11:36 pm
“I have GW on hold, in the fridge, to be precise.”
Thanks for the link Arthur. And now for more reputable news headlines from the Daily Mail:
Music teacher, 45, had sex with two male 16-year-old pupils in her home during drunken party while her husband was away
‘I didn’t squeeze him so I wouldn’t break his bones’: Shock testimony of witness who tried to hug boy ‘who was starved to death by his mother’
Nursing manager failed to call social services after girl, 14, turned up for an abortion ‘with a bloke in his 40s in a white van’
The video that shows how even a cat can unlock the new iPhone 5S after user registers its PAW as one of secure profiles
Customer’s anger at bar staff after they hand him receipt which was marked marked ‘gay guys’ to describe him and friend
Young mother gives birth in front seat of taxi and then receives £40 valeting bill from cab driver two days later
Brazilian hackers mistake NASA for the NSA and crack into the space agency’s website
Former boxing champion out of prison on licence and high on crack ‘hit man so hard he was left dead standing up’
Good news for couch potatoes: Exercising for half an hour helps you lose 25% MORE weight than going for a full hour
And finally,
‘Castrate him!’: Game Of Thrones star Richard Madden is targeted online by angry women for sitting on Tube with his legs too far apart
Sorry Arthur, I’m going to have to go with the scientific community on this one, you can choose to believe whatever you like. 🙂