11th February 2010
The Government-backed Technology Strategy Board (TSB) has announced that £12 million will be up for grabs this year to help innovative businesses develop the wave and tidal power technologies of the future. The announcement comes just as SeaGen, the prototype tidal power energy turbine designed and deployed by Marine Current Turbines Ltd (MCT) has become the first tidal power current or wave energy system in the world to exceed 1,000 hours of operation. MCT said yesterday that the 1,000 hour milestone means that the company is well on the way deploying the UK's first tidal power farm within the next two years. The funding from TSB is designed to further exploit the potential of marine energy and comes in the form of two competitions. Competitive with other renewable energy solutions
TSB chief executive Iain Gray, explained why the funding is needed: "To fully realise the marine energy potential in the UK, there are a number of technological challenges that must still be tackled, ranging from proving which technological solutions will most successfully harness marine energy, to reducing the cost of the energy produced to make the technology competitive with other renewable energy solutions." The first competition, which opens in March with applications due in by April 29, offers a total of £9 million, split between two strands.
The first of these is designed to support the enhancement of existing devices. This would cover improving the reliability and power capture of full-scale devices; the development of second generation existing devices that improve survivability and performance and reduce the cost of energy; and applied research and experimental development for devices that are quarter size or larger. The second strand will support 'novel concept devices' that have already undergone desk-based evaluation and where there is evidence to indicate that the concept has long term commercial prospects.
TSB competition not limited to wave and tidal devices
A spokesperson for the TSB confirmed that the competition is not limited solely to wave and tidal power stream device manufacturers, but is likely to include collaborations designed to develop the supply chain and skills necessary for the future deployment of these technologies. So a wide range of businesses could be eligible for a share of the funding – from those that develop materials and coatings or cables and undersea equipment to utility companies and environmental impact specialists. Of the £9 million available, £2 million is being provided by the South West Regional Development Agency. To qualify for this money, at least one partner involved in the project must be based in South West England.
Strong consideration to proposals that will us Wave Hub
"Strong consideration" will also be given to proposals that include innovative use of the consented area of seabed at the Wave Hub site in Cornwall. This is the South West RDA's £42 million flagship marine renewables project designed to create a grid-connected 'socket' on the seabed, to which arrays of wave energy conversion devices can be connected and tested.
"We are delighted to be investing in this new competition with the Technology Strategy Board. It will accelerate the pace of marine renewables development in the UK, and complement the significant investment the South West RDA is making in the sector through our investments in Wave Hub and marine energy research," said Stephen Peacock, the South West RDA's executive director of enterprise and innovation. The second TSB competition, due to open in September with a deadline for applications of October 21, is aimed at getting pre-commercial full scale devices installed and operating in the sea and is specifically aimed at businesses that are already working towards full scale deployment of their technology.
SeaGen developer could be eligible for funding
Companies like MCT, which got a share of the Carbon Trust's Marine Renewable Proving Fund (MRPF) announced earlier this month, are eligible for the competitions, but their applications must be designed to complement, not replicate, developments for which they have won MRPF support. MCT's 1.2 MW SeaGen tidal power current turbine, situated in n Northern Ireland's Strangford Lough, claims to be the largest MW scale grid-connected marine renewable energy system in the world and has achieved a capacity factor of 66 per cent, delivering 800 MW hours into the National Grid so far.
The company, is now preparing SeaGen for more intensive operation and hopes to gain consent for continuous '24/7' operation before the summer. "SeaGen is operating as it was designed to do. Crucially, the operational experience and data that we are gaining every day is hugely valuable as we work towards deploying the UK's first tidal power farm within the next two years," said Martin Wright, managing director of MCT. "SeaGen is a commercial scale prototype and already we are incorporating into the design of the next machines subtle changes to improve maintainability and reliability which are vital for commercial generation."
0 comments:
Post a Comment