Scotland unveils world’s largest tidal stream power project

[TonyGosling]

Scotland unveils world’s largest tidal stream power project
First turbine in 398MW MeyGen project could start generating power by October
https://www.ft.com/content/d197308a-7826-11e6-97ae-647294649b28

SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 by: Mure Dickie in Nigg and Ness of Quoys, Scotland
Less than a decade ago, Timothy Cornelius, the head of the tidal-power venture Atlantis Resources, struggled to get investors and regulators to return his calls.



Now, as he formally unveils the world’s largest tidal-stream project under construction, he can hardly fend them off. “The level of interest has been almost unmanageable,” Mr Cornelius complained happily of the requests for visits and meetings.

The interest reflects the importance for the nascent tidal sector of Atlantis’s 398MW MeyGen project between the Scottish mainland and Orkney Islands. Success will demonstrate that tidal power has finally become a serious option.

“There is no doubt that the eyes of the world are on this project,” said Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, ahead of a visit to the Nigg Energy Park on Monday to see Atlantis unveil the first turbine to be installed under the waters of the Pentland Firth.

The hulking device, which resembles a bulked-up wind turbine, is one of four with combined output capacity of 6MW that make the up the £51m first stage of the MeyGen project.

If all goes well, they will be sending electricity within weeks to a new power conversion unit on the shore of the Pentland Firth at Ness of Quoys from where it can be sold to the grid.

“It is possible to consider the first sparks will come in late October,” Mr Cornelius said, adding that a second batch of 4 turbines will follow immediately.

The second stage will much cheaper and will require less public investment and the third should need none at all, according to Atlantis, which in April announced a deal with Equitix under which the infrastructure investor plans to put more than £100m into Scottish tidal power over the next two years.

“Psychologically, this is the unleashing,” Mr Cornelius said. “It was a great story before, now it is an infrastructure project.”

The project still faces formidable challenges. The very currents desirable for electricity generation complicate installation of the turbines, each of which requires more than 1,000 tonnes for their structure and ballast. “The Pentland Firth is a nightmare for most mariners,” said William Bremner, a skipper on the ferry that runs from nearby John o’Groats.

Most work on the undersea site is limited to short periods of slack in the current, particular during smaller “neap tides” twice a month.

“The kit has to be incredibly robust in order to survive a subsea tidal environment,” said Dave Rigg, Atlantis’s head of engineering services. “If you can imagine 40 metres of water flowing at nearly 15 miles per hour — that creates huge loads.”

Yet the appeal of tidal stream power is clear. There is less impact on the landscape or wildlife than offshore or onshore wind farms. And, unlike wind, output is predictable years in advance.

Australia-based Atlantis, which is listed on the London’s Stock Exchange’s Aim market, plans to spend nearly £500m in tidal power in Scotland over the next two years.

Mr Cornelius said the Scottish and UK governments are right to see tidal stream as a major opportunity. Three of MeyGen’s first batch of turbines are supplied by Germany’s Andritz Hydro Hammerfest and a fourth is being built for Atlantis by Lockheed Martin of the US.

But more than 40 per cent of capital expenditure for the first phase is within the UK and this will rise in the second phase to 60 per cent. Atlantis hopes to be able to firm up plans for at least 50 turbines next year, enough to turn Nigg into a centre for fabricating, assembling and testing.

“Britain lost wind turbine manufacturing [and] Britain lost nuclear manufacturing, but it can own tidal,” Mr Cornelius said.

[TonyGosling]

REMOVED FROM THE DAILY MAIL THIS IS MONEY WEBSITE - BIZZARE!
£1.6 billion tidal farm project off coast of Scotland is the world's first
31 October 2010
http://atlantisresourcesltd.com/media-centre/atlantis-press-coverage/2 32-1-6-billion-tidal-farm-project-off-coast-of-scotland-is-the-world-s -first.html

The world’s first major tidal energy project – a £1.6 billion underwater farm of 400 turbines off northern Scotland – has been given the go-ahead by the Crown Estate.

When complete in 2020, the Pentland Firth project will generate enough electricity for 400,000 homes. It will also provide employment for hundreds of former nuclear workers at nearby Dounreay who will make the 100ft high double-bladed turbines.

There are further plans to exploit the Pentland Firth over the next two decades, installing 1,000 turbines that will generate 1.6 gigawatts of energy, enough for more than a million homes.

The decision by the Crown Estate to offer the lease to the MeyGen consortium is regarded as the most significant investment in tidal energy so far. MeyGen is a joint venture between International Power (45 per cent), US investment bank Morgan Stanley (45 per cent) and Singapore tidal company Atlantis Resources (ten per cent).

Experts have dubbed the Pentland Firth the Crown Jewel of marine energy sites because the tidal waters there are among the fiercest in the world. Water flows at just over four knots, allowing each of the huge structures to generate one megawatt of energy without significant interruption.

The turbines will be lined up 175 yards apart, weighted down by scrap metal. As the water depth in the Pentland Firth is about 130ft, small craft will be able to sail over the area of about four square miles.

Vessels with a draught of morethan 32ft are automatically routed round the north of the Orkneys.

Because the waters are so rough, little fishing takes place and there is no danger to fish life as the blades revolve so slowly, say experts.

The turbine farm, which will be clearly marked on charts, is well away from sensitive military areas where Royal Navy submarines operate.

The turbines will be built at new factories near Dounreay. A prototype designed in Britain by Atlantis and built in Newcastle upon Tyne has been operating off the Orkneys for the past two years.

MeyGen chief Dan Pearson said: ‘We believe this will be a flagship marine power project.’

As the Crown Estate owns the seabed around Britain, it will be paid hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in rent for the turbine scheme.

The Royal family, which will soon benefit by taking 15 per cent of the Crown Estate profit, may also be able to enjoy renewable energy from the Pentland Firth project.

The royal Castle of Mey, which Prince Charles visits every year, is a few miles from the tidal farm site, which lies between the Caithness coast and the island of Stroma.

Source: By Tom Mcghie, Mail Online
Story from: http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/article-1325152/-BILLION-PROJECT-OF F-COAST-OF-SCOTLAND-IS-THE-WORLD-S-FIRST.html

[TonyGosling]

Sorry, it's not that simple.

The capacity factor (how much of the time it generatesÂ
the power it says) of nuclear is about 80%. So Hinkley C's
3,200MWe capacity represents about 2560MWe on average.

The capacity factor of tidal steam turbines is about 60%,
so at 1.6MWe per turbine that's 0.96MWe on average.

Consequently you need (2560/.96) 2,667 tidal turbines to
create the same power.

That's still do-able, but it's about two and a half times
what you stated.

Parts of the Inner Hebrides, St. George's Channel and theÂ
English Channel also have good tidal stream potential.

...and still probably cheaper than new nuclear!


HOWEVER,

I don't think that's the Government's only concernÂ
here.

The existence of a large civil nuclear industry heavilyÂ
subsidizes the costs of the Ministry of Defence inÂ
operating nuclear submarines and producing nuclearÂ
weapons.

Civil nuclear enables technicians to be trained atÂ
universities, uranium fuel and other componentsÂ
manufactured at UK plants, and radioactive waste to beÂ
processed/handled more easily and cheaply, than if theÂ
MoD had to pay for the entire infrastructure costs ofÂ
Trident and other nuclear-related programmes.

At present the nuclear industry in Britain has about
20 years to live -- then it's just looking after theÂ
waste. Without the skills and facilities to support
nuclear power, Britain's "nuclear deterrent" wouldÂ
become unaffordable.

I think that reality also exercises political minds.


Paul Mobbs

[TonyGosling]

Here's one possible reason why this brilliant project is being allowed up here
- Nicola caught fornicating with the CFR

[TonyGosling]

Tidal turbines in firth 'set world record' for production31 August 2017
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-41107521

Dozens of turbines could eventually be installed in the Inner Sound of the Pentland Firth

Two turbines in the Pentland Firth set a world record for monthly production from a tidal stream power station, according to the project's developer.

Atlantis said its MeyGen scheme in the Inner Sound of the firth off the Caithness coast produced 700 MWh of electricity.

The company said this was enough power for 2,000 homes.

The initial phase of the renewable energy project will involve three turbines.

Atlantis said there had been "minor delays" in receiving upgraded components for the third turbine, but hoped the device would be reinstalled at the site next month.
'Most powerful'

David Taaffe, director of project delivery at MeyGen, said: "The production performance from the installed turbines on the MeyGen project has been very good.

"August proved to be a world-record month, providing enough energy to power 2,000 Scottish homes from just two turbines."

Atlantis hopes to expand the project to have dozens of turbines.

Hannah Smith, policy manager at industry body Scottish Renewables, said the world record was the latest in a series of milestones for the MeyGen project.

She said: "The tides that flow through the Pentland Firth are some of the most powerful anywhere on earth and harnessing them has meant using machines and skills which have never before been tested on a commercial scale.

"This latest record is just one in a long line for the MeyGen project, which is leading the world in tidal energy deployment."

Energy Minister Paul Wheelhouse said: "It's great to see Scotland's world-leading marine energy sector continuing to make headlines.

"Phase 1A of the MeyGen tidal project, built with financial support from the Scottish government, has surpassed expectations.

"Two turbines alone produced enough energy during August to power around 2,000 homes - believed to be a world record for a tidal power station."

[Whitehall_Bin_Men]

£1.3bn
320 megawatt
Enough electricity for 120,000 homes
120 year lifespan
Pilot project in Swansea Bay thrown out

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-44601268